New Year's message from the Prime Minister

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[bJP News]: New Year's message from the Prime Minister

>Mon, 31 Dec 2001 18:11:41 -0500 > >We shall triumph against terrorism,

let this be every Indian’s resolve, says the PM in his New Year message > >‘Our

common problem is poverty, terrorism delays its solution. Let’s fight it, this

is the New Year’s challenge’ > >ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE > >MY dear fellow

coutntrymen, joyous New Year greetings to all of you. To our brave jawans,

security forces, and policemen guarding our borders and vital installations; to

our hard-working kisans who have ensured our food security; to our workers and

managers who, with their sweat and toil, are making India an economic power; to

our talented software professionals who have burnished India’s image abroad; to

our children and youth, who are the future of our nation; indeed, to every

Indian who in his or her own way is contributing to nation-building, I wish

happiness and prosperity in the New Year. I also send my felicitations to all

Non-Resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin, who, despite the distance in

space and time that separates them from us, have maintained unbreakable social,

cultural, spiritual, and emotional ties with India. > > > >We leave an eventful

year behind us, a year of many trials and tribulations — amongst them the

earthquake in Gujarat at the beginning of the year and the terrorist attack on

our Parliament at the end of the year. We faced all of them with courage and

self-confidence. As we begin our journey in 2002, it is time for all of us

together to resolve that we shall grow further in fortitude; that our belief in

ourselves shall be further steeled to take on even stiffer challenges that may

confront us in the New Year. Today, let us pledge that our Motherland shall

emerge stronger — in national security, which is of supreme importance, and in

development that betters the life of those of our brethren who continue to be

victims of poverty and neglect. It is said that Time’s ways are inscrutable.

This may be true in the life of individuals, not in a nation’s life. >True, we

cannot predict what may happen to our individual destinies. But, in my mind,

there is no uncertainty whatsoever about India’s destiny. India is marching

towards a bright future. We have our share of problems. But these cannot hide

the brightness on the horizon. It will be a future free of poverty and all

other vestiges of underdevelopment. Indeed, the level of poverty is coming

down; and the day is not far when every region, every community, and every

citizen in our country shall enjoy the fruits of India’s prosperity and

progress. If we want, and if we act unitedly to get what we want, then this

energizing goal can be achieved within the span of a generation. > >A possible

dream >But the future I see is not only one of a prosperous India, free of fear

and free of want. In recent years, the world has come to look at India with

renewed respect, recognizing a strong and prosperous global power in the

making. I have no doubt that India in the foreseeable future will begin to play

a decisive role in global affairs, not to advance any partisan agenda at the

expense of others but to protect and promote mankind’s most cherished universal

ideals. It is also a future when the fabled richness of India’s culture, arts,

intellectual exploration, and spiritual pursuit will begin to show its full

radiance, bringing much succour to the troubled spirit of the modern man. > > >

>Is this a dream? Yes. Is it an impossible dream? No, it is not. Nations achieve

greatness when their people learn to dream lofty dreams and to strive hard — and

make sacrifices, when necessary — to realize those dreams, without getting

disheartened by the difficulties along the way and without ever letting their

faith in their nation’s destiny falter. >I am reminded here of the inspiring

vision of Maharshi Aurobindo, which he set out in his historic radio broadcast

for August 15, 1947. ‘‘I have always held and said that India was arising, not

to serve her own material interests only, to achieve expansion, greatness,

power, and prosperity - though these too she must not neglect, - and certainly

not like others to acquire domination of other peoples, but to live also for

God and the world as a helper and leader of the whole human race.’’ >This I

believe, is the quintessence of India’s work, now and in the future. Different

leaders of modern India have presented the same vision in different words. In

the five and a half decades since Independence, we have made definite progress

in realizing a part of this vision, although there is a need to introspect on

why our achievement has not been greater, faster, and more egalitarian. But let

us not get bogged down in the issues and debates of yesterday. Now we must

hasten our march forward, correcting the mistakes of the past but always

keeping our eyes fixed firmly on where we want India to be in the future. >The

road ahead >It often happens that the road to the future is rendered difficult

by roadblocks placed by the past. One such roadblock for us, indeed the

biggest, is Pakistan’s consistent and continuing anti-India policy, beginning

with its refusal to accept the constitutionally validated and democratically

endorsed accession of Jammu &; Kashmir to India. For a long time, the rulers in

Islamabad relied on military confrontation, as exemplified by the wars they

waged in 1948, 1965, and 1971, to settle this issue in their favor. After

failing abjectly in their endeavor, the anti-India forces in Pakistan decided

to foment terrorism and religious extremism as the principal means to instigate

separatism in our country. >I must say that they are nursing a dangerous

delusion. What they could not achieve through open military aggression, they

never will achieve through cross-border terrorism. They failed miserably in

their evil designs in Punjab. Terrorism bled Punjab; but, in the end, it fled

Punjab. It could not dent Hindu-Sikh unity. > > > > >Similarly, the terrorists

and their mentors are doomed to fail in Jammu &; Kashmir, too. However, the

very certainty of failure is driving them, in desperation, to embrace a more

dangerous agenda. The terrorist attack on our Parliament on December 13 has

shown beyond a shadow of doubt that the anti-India forces in Pakistan are

prepared to wreak any havoc on our soil. It was an attack on our sovereignty,

on our national self-respect, and it was a challenge to our democratic system.

Although India has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for the past nearly

two decades and has lost tens of thousands of innocent men and women and

security forces, the outrage of December 13 has breached the limit of the

nation’s endurance. That the terrorists who stormed the precincts of Parliament

failed in their core objective, thanks to the exemplary alertness and bravery of

our security forces, some of whom laid down their lives in the call of their

duty, cannot diminish the diabolical natur! >e of the conspiracy hatched by

their mentors across the border. It is useful to presume that more such

terrorist strikes can take place. The only way to defend ourselves against such

attacks is by forcing Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism. And this

precisely is the objective we have set ourselves in our current multi-pronged

strategy. The many political and diplomatic steps we have taken after December

13 are a part of this strategy. As I have said earlier, India does not want

war. India has never been an aggressor in her long history. But we have a

sovereign right to defend ourselves against cross-border terrorism, which is a

proxy war that is already thrust on us. Pakistan will be solely responsible for

the consequences of encouraging terrorism against India and, when expedient,

turning a blind eye to terrorist groups with trans-national linkages operating

from its soil. > >Pakistan’s dilemma >Today I also wish to share a thought with

the people of Pakistan and, indeed, with all the right-thinking persons in its

ruling establishment. It is unfortunate that anti-India forces in Pakistan have

been allowed to play with fire, apparently with no thought given to what this

fire can do to Pakistan itself. I have heard and read many perceptive

Pakistanis express serious concern over their government’s appeasement of

terrorism fueled by religious extremism. They have voiced alarm over how

Pakistan’s social fabric and its institutions have been grievously affected by

its government’s policy of creating and systematically promoting the Taliban,

ostensibly to gain ‘‘strategic depth’’ in Afghanistan and a ‘‘force

multiplier’’ for its anti-India campaign in Jammu &; Kashmir. The fate of the

first game plan has already been sealed. The fate of the second will be no

different. > > > >Taliban and Al-Qaeda are not merely the names of

organizations. They stand for an aberrant mental outlook and a highly

regressive socio-political agenda, which rejects the ideals of pluralism,

secularism, freedom, and democracy and has no respect even for national

boundaries. For the pursuit of its goal to establish global hegemony, it

considers the use of terrorism domestically as well as its aggressive export to

countries near and far entirely legitimate. > >Beyond Lahore >Like you, I too

often wonder: Why do some people choose the path of terrorism? Why do they

kill, and are ready to be killed? How are they able to create a religious

frenzy in support of terrorism, when no religion sanctions terrorism? One can

understand if some persons, dissatisfied with the prevailing state of affairs

or angered by a sense of injustice or deprivation, want to establish a

different social order that they consider is more just and would benefit more

people. There is nothing wrong with such striving. Indeed, humanity has

progressed through the struggles of such idealists. But where the path of the

terrorist diverges sharply from that of the idealist and the revolutionary is

in the choice of the means he employs. Because of his murderous ways, his

intolerance, and his extremism, he expels himself from the pale of humanity and

descends to barbarism. To allow such barbarians to succeed even partially, even

in a single corner of the world, is to invite danger for th! >e whole civilized

humanity. >Which is why India stood firmly behind the international coalition’s

support to the United States’ war on terror in Afghanistan following the

horrendous terrorist attacks of September 11 in New York and Washington. The

leadership of Pakistan took a commendable decision to join the international

coalition against terrorism in Afghanistan, although it meant a drastic U-turn

in their policy of support to the Taliban regime. >But what was their real

intention? If it was the same as that of the international community — namely,

to root out terrorism and extremism — then I extend my hand of alliance to

them. I wish to tell them: ‘‘Shed your anti-India mentality and take effective

steps to stop cross-border terrorism, and you will find India willing to walk

more than half the distance to work closely with Pakistan to resolve, through

dialogue, any issue, including the contentious issue of Jammu &; Kashmir.’’ >In

my Musings from Kumarakom last year, I had affirmed: ‘‘In our search for a

lasting solution to the Kashmir problem, both in its external and internal

dimensions, we shall not traverse solely on the beaten track of the past.

Rather, we shall be bold and innovative designers of a future architecture of

peace and prosperity for the entire South Asian region.’’ I continue to remain

wedded to this commitment. My bus journey to Lahore earlier in February 1999,

my invitation to President Pervez Musharraf to come to Agra in July for summit

talks, and our oft-extended ‘‘ceasefire’’ in Jammu &; Kashmir are a testimony

to India’s sincere, bold, and innovative search for peace. This search

continued even after the betrayal in Kargil. Our efforts will be further

intensified, if Pakistan demonstrates its matching sincerity to have peace with

India. > >Time for sacrifice >Together, let us leave the past of futile

hostilities behind us and embrace a future free of tension and full of mutually

beneficial possibilities. The common enemy that both our countries face is

poverty, illiteracy, disease, and unemployment. Terrorism and extremism cannot

solve any of these problems. They can only further delay their solution.

Therefore, let us join hands to fight this enemy and, along with other

countries in South Asia, make our region a land of peace, plenty, and all-round

progress. This is the challenge of the New Year and of the New Century. Let us

accept it in a spirit of cooperation. >However, if the intention of Pakistan’s

leadership is to continue to promote, or condone, cross-border terrorism in

Jammu &; Kashmir as a matter of state policy, while maintaining that they are

one with the world in rooting out terrorism in Afghanistan, then the

international community will judge this position to be opportunistic. It will

conclude that Pakistan, far from being a part of the solution, will remain a

part of the problem itself. >It is for Pakistan to make the right choice. After

what happened on December 13, we have made certain legitimate demands of the

government of Pakistan. Its sincerity to fight terrorism will be determined by

its positive response to these demands. We also hope that our friends in the

international community will bring requisite pressure on Pakistan to give up

its double standards on terrorism. >Dear fellow countrymen, the situation we

are facing is unprecedented. I would like you to be prepared for any

eventuality. I would also like you to realize that the battle against terrorism

will necessarily be a long one. One should neither expect a quick and painless

victory nor despair if more terrorist strikes take place. >Today my heart goes

out to our jawans, security forces, and police personnel who are doing their

duty in difficult conditions, so that all of us can sleep soundly and go about

our normal lives. But let us also recognize that, in some ways, every citizen

is a soldier in this war against terrorism. Like them, let us be disciplined

and ever-vigilant. Like them, let us also be prepared to make sacrifices —

sacrifice of our leisure, sacrifice of our comforts, sacrifice of our riches,

and, if necessary, sacrifice of our lives. >I am sure that all of us will work

harder than before to keep our economy and our civic services fighting fit. I

know that, as during the previous wars, our citizens will gladly bear hardships

if the Government has to take certain temporary measures to support our effort.

Our people have shown the fist of unity at the time of every crisis in the

past. I am confident that you will do it again, and not allow any other issue

to come between us and our goal. And that goal is India’s victory — a decisive

victory — in our supremely just struggle. We shall triumph against terrorism —

to defend India, to defend humanity. Let this be every Indian’s New Year

resolve. >May the Almighty give us strength to redeem this resolve. >

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