Today is July 6, the birth anniversary of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, founder of our party, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which now functions as Bharatiya Janata Party. This blog is due to be released tomorrow.On June 23, I had recalled how at the first National Session of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh held at Kanpur in 1953, Dr Mookerjee had inspired Jana Sangh delegates from all parts of the country with his call for the complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir State with India. Why should this state's situation be different from that of the other 563 princely states which had agreed to become fully integrated parts of independent India?The Jana Sangh session decided to launch a movement against the permit system introduced by the Jammu & Kashmir state government. Dr Mookerjee declared that he would be the first citizen to defy the system, and would enter the state without a permit. His incarceration, and subsequent martyrdom, are now part of history.As I had pointed out in another blog,

'His incarceration, and martyrdom, are now part of history'

Business Standard

I am grateful to India Club for inviting me to deliver a talk and thus have an opportunity for an interaction with the intellectual, business and cultural elite in Singapore.


`We in India have much to learn from Singapore`

I spent the first twenty years of my life in Karachi. The only two languages I became conversant with during that period were my mother tongue, Sindhi, and the language I had my education in, English.

'A book that was to later influence my politics'

In my blogs this month, I have been consciously trying to recall the happenings of the Emergency inflicted on the country on June 26, 1975. Two events that took place on June 12, 1975 led to the Emergency.

When the kernel of democracy had to be maintained...

The President&rsquo;s Address is essentially a report card of the government&rsquo;s activities in the previous year. It also provides a glimpse of the government&rsquo;s plans for the ensuing year. The format of this debate is such that both Houses unanimously vote for the Motion of Thanks.

'Help pvt sector to expand India's defence footprint'

In the unenviable record of the United Progressive Alliance government, more and more events are taking place that are totally unprecedented in these 65 years of Independence. It started with a series of stinking scams and the consequential back-breaking inflation for the aam admi &mdash; issues that have dominated several Parliament sessions in recent years.

L K Advani

L K Advani

L K Advani

'His incarceration, and martyrdom, are now part of history'

`We in India have much to learn from Singapore`

'A book that was to later influence my politics'

When the kernel of democracy had to be maintained...

'Help pvt sector to expand India's defence footprint'

'De-politicise constitutional appointments'