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.

India should match China's defence power: Tarun Vijay

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

22 OCT, 2012, 10.05PM IST, PTI

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/india-should-match-chinas-defence-power-bjp-mp/articleshow/16918933.cms

MUMBAI: India should learn lessons from the 1962 Indo-China war and relook at its defence preparedness in respect to the neighbouring country, BJP MP Tarun Vijay said today.

"As the country observes 50th year of the Chinese invasion, India needs to relook at its defence preparedness in respect to China," Vijay, the Rajya Sabha MP, said.

Stressing that India should match the neighbouring country in military might, he said "Friendship can be lasting if the engagement is between two equally powerful partners. China should be made aware that the scars it inflicted on Indian psyche are hard to be erased."

Vijay demanded that the government tell the nation as to where it stands as compared with Chinese military might.

The BJP leader said India should take up the issue of presence of People's Liberation Army (PLA) personnel in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

"PoK is constitutionally and legally a part of India. The country should protest the presence of foreign armed forces on its soil at the international fora," he said and accused the government of not standing up to China's aggressive postures, calling it "spineless".

During his visit to Milam glacier in Uttarakhand, Vijay said he found ITBP forces have to walk 105 km to reach the borders while Chinese troops have motored roads to ferry their personnel to the border.

In Ladakh's Pangong lake, China has 22 state-of-art mechanised patrol boats while India has two old ones, he said.

"The border villages are facing unprecedented exodus towards cities. These are dangerous signals for the Army as the locals are their ground support during crisis," he said.

Vijay demanded that the border villages be declared as special defence areas and budget should be allocated for their development.

He claimed that the NDA government had ambitious programme of constructing border roads and tenders were also issued, but in the last eight years there has been no progress.

Vijay said there is concern over the manner in which "China was encircling" India in PoK, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Maldives. "Do we have an answer to counter this?" he asked.

KS Sudarshan: A leader who broke barriers

http://www.rediff.com/news/column/ks-sudarshan-a-leader-who-broke-barriers-column/20120917.htm

September 17, 2012 11:40 IST

Former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief KS Sudarshan, who passed away on Saturday, broke the barriers of past burdens, dogmas and ritualism and often faced severe criticism from various quarters. But once he took a stand, no one could make him go back on it, says Tarun Vijay in tribute

Sudarshanji was like a family member. Sharing the good times and bad, standing with us like a father figure and trying to help. For him scholarship, organisational burden and national policies came after human relations. An emotional person, he would often engage visitors in long chats, and it was a great experience to listen to his words of wisdom on science, spiritualism, metaphysics, environmental issues and almost anything under the sun.

Even when he was the global chief of the world's largest Hindu organisation, he remained the most accessible person on earth with whom we could discuss, criticise, vehemently oppose organisational decisions, even express disagreement on what he said or wrote, and yet be without the  fear of any 'disciplinary action'.

He was, after all, a father figure to us. A mentor who never got angry but who tried to shape us through love and persuasion.

He was us.

Yet he never trod the beaten path.

His first address to the nation, a press conference in Nagpur after assuming charge as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief, was on the economic situation and the need to assertively follow a policy that would help indigenous industry grow, provide more employment to the skilled and unskilled labourers and blue collar workers. Contact Raman Singh (chief minister of Chhattisgarh) and get information on what he has done to produce bio-fuel and publish a detailed report, he would say.

His long discussions with the then petroleum minister Ram Naik resulted in the central government's policy on bio-fuel.

In RSS karyalayas (office cum residence), he made it an unwritten rule followed by all to only fill as much water in the glass as one is sure to drink. 'Don't waste water, don't fill up the glass only to throw it into the washbasin. Water is sacred and scarce,' he would urge.

He tried to persuade everyone he met to stop ostentatious marriages. Don't go in for such celebrations, it's a mockery of India's [ Images ] poor millions and a blot on Hindu society. And so was his mission to fight female foeticide. We worship Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswati as stone idols but kill them in the womb, he said in a speech.

He praised Indira Gandhi [ Images ] for her role in the 1971 war and invited a huge load of criticism from those who thought we ought to be hateful and hard-hitting on the Congress. He hated the hate element in Indian politics and tried to reach out to everyone as an Indian.

The business of enlisting, de-listing and blacklisting is a Communist preserve, he would tell us, why should a Hindu fall into that abyss and still hypocritically keep on chanting the story of Charvak, the atheist who was given an exalted position of rishi in spite of being an exponent of a philosophy that negated Vedic principles.

Very often, whenever he happened to be in Delhi [ Images ], he would come to the offices of Panchjanya and Organiser and discuss several contemporary issues with the editors. His knowledge of global affairs and their likely impact on India was awesome. His friends' circle included diplomats, scientists, Vedic scholars, environmentalists and economists espousing the cause of Swadeshi.

He was fond of Atal Bihari Vajpayee's [ Images ] poems and would recite many of them verbatim at several meetings. So when a daily newspaper published his interview that created awkwardness between him and Vajpayeeji, he felt sad about it. And it goes to the credit of both leaders' maturity that the bad blood was removed and relations normalised.

His knowledge of Islam was so astounding and correct that he surprised the Islamic ulema and maulanas, whom he loved to engage in conversations. He wanted to reach out to Indian Muslims and inspired many such organisations and efforts. Perhaps he was the only Hindu leader of his stature who never forgot to send Eid greetings to his Muslim friends every year.

He would often come to our home, chat with the kids as if he was of their age and watch some interesting programmes, essentially non-political, on television. He was very happy when our daughter was born and came home to name her and be a part of the annaprashan ceremony.

At a later stage, when he relinquished the post of RSS chief, he would often feel sad and lonely and recite Atalji's poems -- on the resolve to face odd situations with firmness. About his failing health, he would say: 'I forget the names of my close associates, it's a terrible thing.' And would often go back in time, recalling his Jabalpur days, his roots in Tamil Nadu, and the plight of Hindus due to their own mistakes.

Once he told us that a great astrologer in Tirupati (now no more) had divined his past and said he was a Sri Lankan Tamil in his previous birth. We all laughed.

Sudarshanji wanted to restore the glory of Hindus the world over and would often say, 'The time is very near when Hindu society will unshackle the colonial mindset and acquire its destined place in the comity of nations. No one can keep Hindus subjugated and a slave of political expediency for long.'

An ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo, he would declare with a great confidence -- a new India will rise, and soon. Happier, mightier and wealthier. Hindus are born with the divine gift of science and mathematics; no one can beat them in scientific pursuits. It's in our genes.

He would get enraged on seeing the plight of Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and even in India due to political vote-banks and sham secularism. The leaders are spineless, they do not feel the pains and sorrows of Hindus, he would lament. Every party has a Hindu leadership, why don't they feel anguish on seeing how Hindus are being persecuted all over South Asia, he would ask. We must work with the Hindus of other political groups and shouldn't be confined to the Bharatiya Janata Party [ Images ] alone, but are other groups willing to receive us, he would question.

He broke the barriers of past burdens, dogmas and ritualism and often faced severe criticism from various quarters. But once he took a stand, no one could make him go back on it.

He was like a family member to us. And to many, many Swayamsevaks all over the nation. I regret not being able to have his best speeches and interviews published in his lifetime, although a publisher had made such an offer years before. But his memory will always keep us moving towards building a greater and happier Bharatvarsh that is India.

Tarun Vijay is a Bharatiya Janata Party member of the Rajya Sabha

A Sangh Yogi - Pujya Sudarshan ji

An era is over. Pujya Sudarshan ji passed away at Raipur on 15th September 2012 at 6.55 am. His mortal remains were consigned to flames today on 16th Sept 2012 at Nagpur.He was a Sangh Yogi. An ideal Swayamsewak. He attended shakha before leaving this world for his heavenly abode. Like a true Yogi . He was like a guardian to our family. Our heartfelt Shradhanjali.

Shri K.S.Sudarshan ji, the then Sarsanghchalak (Chief) of the RSS releasing Tarun Vijay's book Saffron Surge (Haranand) along with Shri Mohan Ji Bhagwat, the then Sarkaryavah (Gen Secy) of the RSS at India International Centre, New Delhi. Nov 2007. On right is the author Shri Tarun Vijay

 Here is a copy of my tributes to Pujya Sudarshan ji published in Punjab Kesari.

' A Himalayan son, who became King of the seas'

Photo Caption- Shri Tarun Vijay congratulating Chief  of the Naval Staff Admiral DK Joshi,PVSM,AVSM,YSM,NM,VSM,ADC in New Delhi

Press release

New Naval Chief Admiral DK Joshi described as the ' A Himalayan son, who became King of the seas' by Tarun Vijay, MP , Uttarakhand

5th September 2012- New Delhi- Shri Tarun Vijay, MP , Utatrakhand and National Spokesperson, BJP today congratulated the new  Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral DK Joshi, and described him as ' A Himalayan son, who became King of the seas'.  The meeting lasted about 25 minutes and pleasantries wre exchanged. Shri Tarun Vijay said that Admiral Joshi, who hails from his home town Dehradun  has made every Utatrakhandi  proud of his achievements  and we hope that his tenure will prove the golden period of Navy's might and influence. Admiral Joshi expressed gratitude towards his Janmabhumi Uttarakhand and said that the best way to repay the debt to her motherland is to serve India and prove to be a worthy soldier.

The Agony of Kokrajhar. A Ritwik presentation

Kokrajhar. Its a demographic war. AIUDF is like pre-47 Muslim league . coverage