Vajpayee Debunks Rss Criticism
FORMER PRIME Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee yesterday strongly defended the cause of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). He indicated that its idols, KB Hegdewar and Deen Dayal Upadhyayaya, would find mention along with other freedom fighters if the BJP came to power at the Centre.
Failure to recognise the role of armed struggle in Indias independence and political differences delayed recognition being accorded to Veer Savarkar, he argued. He was delivering a valedictory address to the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) convention.
Vajpayee debunked the RSS critics, who hold the organisation responsible for Mahatma Gandhis assassination. He reiterated that the RSS had no role and that the Karpoori commission which probed the assassination had established this.
He claimed that the BJP was the only party to have recognised Netaji Shubhas Chandra Bose greatness. And, he derided the Congress for recognising Netajis role during the freedom struggle only after his death. Had the Congress followed Bose, India would have won independence much earlier and avoided partition, he held.
On the BJYMs proposal for a national reconstruction youth army, Vajpayee said that there was a need to concretise the idea. It will be our responsibility to implement this, he said.
Earlier, party general secretary Pramod Mahajan stressed the need for India to become a declared nuclear power and demanded the setting up of a national security council to assess the security threats.
General secretary KN Govindacharya dwelt at length on his pet social engineering theory and emphasised the need for greater representation of people in power, wealth and respectability.
Former Prime Minster Atal Behari Vajpayee will propose in Parliaments this Winter session that the Union government make a law to open official secret files to the public.
Disclosing this at the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) convention yesterday, Vajpayee said: I am impressed with the new Bulgarian government that has made such a law.
There was no need to shield criminals, he asserted, and pooh-poohed Prime Minister IK Gujrals government for not including the Bofors pay-off case among those that have been handed over to the CBI recently. Kis cheez par parda dala ja raha hai (what is being veiled), he asked.