Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Kalyan Singh ji, Bharatiya Janata Party National President, Shri Rajnath Singh ji, Shri Lalji Tandon, Tambe ji, the chairman and moderator of this assembly, Shri Narendra Mohan ji, sisters and brothers: once again, elections are knocking at our doors. They should have come after five years, but they have dropped in the middle. The Lok Sabha should have run for five years, but it met an untimely demise.
In the last election, the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the largest party. We had even defeated the Congress. But we were not given a clear majority. The voters left us just a little short. We were not very eager to form the government; we went to the President and said that we did not have a clear majority and that if anyone else was ready to take responsibility for the government, he should invite them. The President said, “I have explored all possibilities. No one other than you can form a government, no one can run a government.” The parties that we joined to fight the last elections, which we won collectively, with those and some other parties, we formed the government.
That government stands before you with its track record. When we came to power, there was despair in the country, an economic crisis, and people had apprehensions about the future. The policies we adopted and the way we worked changed the atmosphere.
The problem of security has not suddenly arisen today. When Smt. Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister, India conducted its first nuclear test in 1974. At that time, the country was not surrounded by threats, but the thinking behind the nuclear test was that when other countries are arming themselves with atomic weapons and when atomic weapons are being gathered around us in the Indian Ocean, how can we turn our faces away from danger? At that time also, the world opposed it a lot, and it was opposed in Parliament, but we supported it. While being in the opposition, we supported it, because it was a new step taken for the defence of the country, a right step. We do not want a war of atomic weapons in the world. The whole world knows what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki; people are still suffering and disabled. But America dropped the atom bomb in the name of its defence, and after that, other big countries made atomic weapons. We demanded disarmament; we said there is no need for atomic weapons, atomic weapons are not for fighting, and we should get rid of atomic weapons.
No one listened to us. The big countries kept piling up heaps of atomic weapons, creating stores, depriving others, and trying to gain a monopoly. Later, China became a nuclear power. After that first nuclear test, we didn’t conduct any other nuclear test, but we should have done it. As Prime Minister, when I got the first chance, we said that for the defense of the country, for self-defense, we will definitely take a step. No matter how much the world opposes it, we will not step back. You remember how much of an uproar there was in the world; sanctions were imposed on us, we were boycotted, and attempts were made to make us international untouchables. We told them that when we were stuck in a crisis and went to you for help, you did not help us. Now we will not depend on anyone. We will stand on our own feet for self-defence. Whatever weapon is necessary, we will make or bring, but that weapon should always be ready to be used in our defence in our hands. More than a year has passed since then. The world has started understanding our self-defence requirements. We tested the Agni missile.
Now we are going to include [the missile] in the category of weapons. We made every effort for defence. Today the country is more solid. Today the country is more powerful. You will ask, if the country is powerful, then why did Kargil happen? There is a story to this too. This story should be understood by everyone, because our opponents are creating confusion that the government did not make proper arrangements and therefore infiltrators came. Infiltrators come despite arrangements. We have seen this in Jammu and Kashmir. We are also seeing this scene on the border of West Bengal. We stop them. But if the border is very long, a soldier cannot be deployed at every inch. We keep a watch, but if someone has entered by evading the watch, then we do not let them establish a foothold in our country; until we push them out, we do not sit in peace. This is what we did. You must have some idea of the conditions in which our soldiers fought at such heights because this time the fight was not only being fought in Kargil but was also being shown in every home; it was being watched in every home. Such high peaks, such high peaks of 15,000-17,000 feet.
Difficulty in breathing, lack of drinking water, and a sudden attack. But the brave soldiers of the country should be praised, who, at the risk of their lives, brought down the attackers standing on the peaks. They had machine guns; they were standing at a height, standing on the peaks, and we had to capture those peaks, we had to hoist the tricolour there. The soldiers risked their lives and gave sacrifices one after another, but they succeeded in bringing the attackers to the ground and hoisted the tricolour there. The credit goes to the brave soldiers, the officers. This is not my victory, this is not the victory of any party; this is the victory of the country, the victory of the soldiers of the country. It is true that we made the right decisions. Once before, when we had a war, the question came whether we should bring the Air Force into the field to help the infantry or not, and New Delhi decided that it was not right to bring the Air Force—that the war would flare up, the fight would spread more. The Air Force was not fielded; soldiers died in greater numbers, and we lost land. This time, when we saw that the attacker was trying to establish a foothold in our land, we did not hesitate to field the Air Force.
Pakistan was stunned. They did not expect it. They thought that there was no government in India, that it was a caretaker government, that people were worried about elections or would fight among themselves, would get stuck in competition—so “go and sit, capture the land, no one is there to remove or say anything”. We didn’t let this happen.
The government had lost confidence in the Lok Sabha, but we had not lost the confidence of the 100 crore people of this country. We showed full awareness toward our duty. We decided that we would face the attack, and you saw that success was achieved. Success was achieved due to the valor of the brave soldiers. The history that our soldiers have written with their blood on the peaks of Kargil will continue to inspire coming generations; coming generations will continue to bow to it and worship it. Sisters and brothers, we should always be prepared for the defence of the country. Whatever elements try to disturb the peace of India should be dealt with. It is true we want peace; we chant the mantra of peace, we are worshipers of peace, and I went to Lahore with a message of peace and a message of friendship. I didn’t go to Lahore to play games.
I went thinking it would be good if 50 years of bitterness could be reduced. The Prime Minister of Pakistan invited me. There was a proposal to start a bus service; I accepted his proposal and went, and there, when he invited me to a feast, he read my poem to me, which said “we will not let war happen.” I said, very good, please read the poem a little further. In that poem, I had said that war has happened three times—who gained what in this war? And I asked the Pakistanis, “Do you want to fight more wars now? You wanted to take the whole of Kashmir; you couldn’t take it. Then you wanted to capture Kutch; you couldn’t do it. Then you attacked at the time of the Bangladesh crisis; in that too you did not get success. Forget about your attack, even Bangladesh slipped out of your hands. Kashmir you couldn’t take, Kutch you couldn’t take, Bangladesh you lost.” I asked, “What else are you prepared to lose? And what do you want to lose, please tell.” What was gained? In the Kargil war too, soldiers were killed. Those soldiers who attained martyrdom, their bodies we took to their families with respect, with honour. This happened for the first time. In the wars so far, it was not known who died where or how.
We said no, the one who sacrificed for the country, his last rites should be performed with great pride, with great self-respect. I would get overwhelmed seeing the courage of the family members. If a mother says, “If I had another son, I would send him too to fight”, what else can a person do but bow his head at the feet of that mother? But you know, Pakistan has refused to pick up its bodies, the bodies of its soldiers, from Kargil. The bodies kept lying; 250-300 bodies, no one to ask, no one to care. We informed the Pakistani authorities that the bodies were lying; our soldiers and officers said “take the bodies,” but they did not admit that they were their soldiers’ bodies. Whose bodies were they? At that time, they did not admit it because they were propagating all over the world that the attack in Kargil was not done by the Pakistani Army, that the attack in Kargil was done by the Mujahideen. But the truth came out. The bodies that were lying were not the bodies of Mujahideen; they were soldiers of the Pakistani army. The deception was exposed, the truth came out. Can anyone behave like this with their own soldiers? But such behavior happened before our eyes.
Atrocities were committed against some of our soldiers; their limbs were mutilated. We followed the rules of war. We returned all the bodies with respect. The soldiers we had arrested, we are going to return them too. Even war has some rules; war has some dignity. It is our culture, our way of behavior. But now it is clear to the world. Then Pakistan had to admit that “our army was fighting.”
Why did you violate the Shimla Agreement? You didn’t care at all about the declaration that was finalised in Lahore. Now they are giving an invitation to come and talk. We said, “What will we talk about? We went with trust, and we were betrayed.” Now when an atmosphere for further talks is created, then the doors for talks will open. Terrorist activities should stop here. The activities of the ISI going on here, RDX being caught in various places—this cannot come without the help of the Pakistani intelligence agency. All countrymen should remain cautious, all countrymen should remain alert. Something very delightful happened during the Kargil War. Our soldiers fighting on the border were from all regions, speaking all languages, following all religions—even those following different religions were all together, fighting shoulder to shoulder. If one soldier’s life went, another soldier would take his place, would jump forward and come to the front.
A picture of the unity of the whole country was revealed. No one should be in any confusion; no one should have any misunderstanding. We know how to fight and we also know how to practice peace. For peace, we went to Lahore, but when peace was not found and war came to our door, we defeated those who had imposed war on us and sent them back. They have gone. Now they are trying to infiltrate here and there, attacking our army camps. We will respond to that too. We won’t come under pressure from anyone. We cannot trade the future of Kashmir out of fear of violence or murder. The Maharaja of Kashmir decided to merge with India. The people of Kashmir put their seal on that decision. Pakistan did not implement the resolutions passed by the United Nations. It does not trust the people of Kashmir. Today they are chanting the resolutions of the United Nations; why did you not implement them at that time? Because they knew that if they implemented them, they would lose. They want to seize Kashmir by force of weapons. This plan of theirs will never be allowed to succeed. Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.
We will protect Jammu and Kashmir at any cost. We will safeguard Jammu and Kashmir at any cost. One-third of Jammu and Kashmir is under Pakistan’s occupation. What is the condition of that one-third part? Is there democracy there? Are elections held there? Is there respect for human rights there? Is there an elected government there? No. They are deprived of basic rights. Who would want to join that part? The people of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh have decided that they will stay with India, and this decision cannot be changed with weapons. The world has also understood this. That is why for the first time it happened that in the Kargil war, Pakistan was alone and we stood with the support of almost the whole world, with their trust. This never happened before, and it happened because our side was the side of justice, the side of truth. Our land was forcibly occupied; we had to take it back. We did not violate the Line of Control; there was no need to do so. We acted with restraint. We showed as much power as was necessary, and we demonstrated as much restraint as was required.
Sisters and brothers, you have to decide in the elections. As I said in the beginning, the 13-month tenure is before you. We received a dilapidated economy; we have put life into it. We have brought it back on track. Economic activity has picked up again. There is control over prices, food grain stores are full, and, as I said, prices are under control, and extraordinary progress is being made in agriculture; heavy progress is happening. But this is not enough. We want to double the production of food grains. We want to arrange for one crore people to be given employment every year. By promoting small industries and industries connected with agriculture, we want to arrange work for as many people as possible. Our manifesto has been published; yesterday we released it in Delhi. Our alliance will fight the election with that manifesto. We want you to give us a clear majority this time to complete the unfinished work—give a decisive majority, a majority with which we can transform the country. I am confident that the residents and citizens of Kanpur will pay attention to this appeal of ours. Thank you very much. Namaskar.
This is part of ThePrint’s Great Speeches series. It features speeches and debates that shaped modern India.