Presidents Of India

"We in India, as a result of our planned economic development, not central planning, but mixed planning, mixed economy, we have experimented with, we have moved to a stage of partial maturity of the economy, when we needed new forms of management, new forms of, expression of the spirit of enterprise, so that the economy can move forward. The compulsion to liberalisation and globalisation arose from this. This is why we say that India's liberalisation is an irreversible process....and, in a vast country, with millions of people and poverty, rampant, we cannot liberalise recklessly, in such a way that the balance of the society is upset and while some sections would flourish, make profits, the rest of the people would be left without employment and be helpless. Therefore, we have to have a balanced approach to liberalisation and also to globalisation."

"There are many serious political scientists who have argued that the age of sovereignty is over. They want a frontier less, borderless world, and that is a very dangerous philosophy which may suit the most developed and powerful countries of the world, and not those who are small and developing. That is why we are rather cautious in our liberalisation policy. We went ahead in certain sectors. We went rather slowly in other sectors. And, this has helped us."

"Many in India fought against some of the ideas of changing our patent system. And we have signed the World Trade Organisation Treaty but still we have to safeguard ourselves because, many of the developed countries are, though they have signed the same WTO, but they are not practising it; anti-dumping measures they are adopting very liberally, as also tariff, non-tariff barriers. So we have to carefully argue within the WTO system our case."

"Communal mobilisation in the long run will not succeed in India because Indian society cannot be mobilized communally. Even the last elections have shown that communities, religious communities, castes did not vote solidly for one party."

"...when we became independent and Nehru spelt out his vision, we appeared to be the leader, we are the only country which articulated the aspirations of Asia as a whole for the first time. Then other countries, small countries, big countries have come up asserting themselves, and, but still we are, because of our economic development, everybody knows that India is geographically a big central chunk of Asia and that it is an expanding economy. It is a technologically progressing society and in every field it is making a mark. And everybody recognises this role of India, but I think we have to articulate our position in Asia, in a new way, in a new set of circumstances that would appeal to everybody."

"...the Indian public are weighed down by their problems, and becoming rather insular in their outlook because of their preoccupation with their own problems. We have to rouse them and make them conscious that we can progress only as a part of the world and as a part of Asia."

"My image of a President before I came here, and before I had any hope of coming here, was that of a rubber-stamp President, to be frank. This is the image I got. But having come here, I find that the image is not quite correct. I thought, I will have lot of time, leisure for reading, writing, waking etc. But somehow I find I can't get it now. So, my image of a President is of a working President, not an executive President, but a working President, and working within the four corners of the Constitution. It gives very little direct power or influence to him to interfere in matters or affect the course of events, but there is a subtle influence of the office of the President on the executive and the arms of the government and on the public as a whole. It is a position which has to be used with the, what I should say, with a philosophy of indirect approach."

"There are one or two things, which you can directly do in very critical times. But otherwise, this indirect influence that you can exercise on the affairs of the State is the most important role he can play. And, he can play it successfully only if he is, his ideas and his nature of functioning are seen by the public in tune with their standards. The President has to be a citizen and there must be some equation between the people and the President, and if some advice or something is to be given to the executive, it would be received with grace, it would be sometimes accepted, if it is known that the public opinion is on the side of the kind of advice the President is giving. Otherwise, he cannot exercise much influence."

"The Nehruvian dream [the ending of poverty and ignorance and inequality of opportunity.] today has become a pungent necessity, inescapable necessity. In 1947, one could say that it was a dream, it was Gandhi's dream also. But now it has become an inescapable necessity for us to translate that dream into practice. And I think that dream cannot be abandoned. We have to pursue it and pursue it in realistic terms. I see that India can do it. And India must do it."

"In 1949, he joined the Indian Foreign Service at the suggestion of Jawaharlal Nehru. His ambassadorships in China (1976-78, the first since the 1962 Sino-Indian war) and the US (1980-83) led to better understanding. Serving in Rangoon, Burma, in the early 1950s, he married Daw Tint Tint, who later adopted the name Usha and became an Indian citizen, the only woman of foreign origin to have become first lady of India."

"In place of the mechanical approach adopted by his predecessors, he established principles [as President of the Republic] and procedures that were transparent and based on sound constitutional reasoning."

"The greater achievement of this brilliant man was to retain unto the last a progressive social vision and empathy with millions of India's poor and deprived citizens. He did not flinch from doing what he considered right — whether it was joining a queue of citizens to cast his vote (before him, heads of state did not vote) or creatively interpreting and exercising presidential discretion or speaking his mind on issues that mattered."

"When he stood in queues to vote in general elections, a few people criticised this practice, saying that a head of state should not be seen taking sides in an election. But the overwhelming response was that the President had done a service to democracy."

"His penchant for anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist and anti-militarist causes did not diminish during his presidency. Talking at a reception during United States President Bill Clinton's visit to India, he said that the governance of the global village could not be left to a "village headman". He added that "globalisation does not mean the end of history and geography and of the lively and exciting diversities of the world". He went on to suggest that the global village in "this age of democracy" would be headed not by a "village headman" but by the "global panchayat", loosely symbolised by the United Nations."

"MY husband and I were on a train journey and at a wayside station I asked him to get me a cup of tea. When he returned, just as the train was steaming out, I saw him standing at the door of the compartment, teacup in one hand, trying busily to get rid of his w:Flip-flops}chappal. `What are you doing?' I asked. "Oh, nothing. I accidentally dropped one of the pair at the platform... I can't get it back... What is the use of my keeping one when the man who finds the first will need both?"

"Logic - was a tool in his intellectual armoury but it was not a cold, calculating logic. There was space in it for something beyond the algebraic piling of reason upon reason."

"His term at the London School of Economics (LSE) is deservedly celebrated for the equation he enjoyed with the cerebral but morally intense Harold Laski. Less known is the fact that his studentship at LSE included attending lectures by Karl Popper, Professor of Logic and Scientific Method. He related to me this classroom story: Popper was once discussing the value in an `open' society of checks and balances and (as Popper put it) of one `sphere' arriving at an equilibrium with another `sphere' without direct state intervention. And to give his argument a visual correlative, Popper pointed to an empty chair and said, "If you let that chair be, you will be able to sit in it at some point." He, who was 26 or 27 then, broke in and said to Popper, "Letting the chair be is all right, but if you or someone were to pick up the chair and hit it on my head, I think I would be entitled to catch it and throw it out of the window." He [KRN] said that to his embarrassment this intervention was greeted with a small applause from others in the class."

"Both his teachers at LSE, from opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, exercised a lasting if unflaunted influence on their precocious student. In matters pertaining to national politics they doubtless had something to do with his oft-repeated caution against forms of political `stability' which, in his words, "could slip into authoritarian exercise of power"."

"He was wise when others would have been smart, frank when others would have been cautious. He was available to the people of India, as a "working President" (the description he gave to himself in an interview) but he was essentially his own friend, counsellor and confidant - with, of course, Usha Narayanan by his side. His inner resources were phenomenal - for reading, contemplating and, in his own special manner, brooding. But when seized of a problem - large or small, in the public domain or very personal - He would go into a shell of thought where no one may enter. He was never secretive, but always in need of a space of his own. No one could think for him, much less find the words he needed. He did not seek publicity for his views though he was (to use his own word) amazed how the Indian media seemed to fix its priorities. He was as conservative in his working style as he was radical in his thinking, pen to paper being his writing practice rather than computer keyboarding."

"In anguish, I asked the prime minister what our intelligence agencies were doing all these months when the arms build-up was going on. And why action had not been taken to apprehend Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the extremist leader. I asked her if any police officer had been taken to task for negligence of duty in allowing terrorists to smuggle arms into the temple [Golden temple, Amritsar] for almost two years. She had obviously no plausible answer. With a distant look in her eyes, she replied feebly that it was the duty of the Punjab government to take care of these aspects."

"All I could do was to ask the prime minister of the country not to allow the blood of innocents be spilled for the crime committed by two misguided security men."

"I asked Rajiv to be frank. I had no love for office or power. I could walk out any time. I was like a sojourner in an inn."

"No one actually brought me any money. But there were many commitments made...Chandraswami said he knows some Sultan. He wanted me to contest for the second time. Somehow, this fellow had a dislike for Rajiv perhaps because Rajiv refused to encourage him."

"At one stage, Venkataraman had agreed to become prime minister but he never told me this directly.... Once the news of his being in touch with the dissidents was leaked out, he was offered the presidency and that was the end of it."

"Dissent was not a crime but the opposition must appreciate the good actions of the government. Politicians and politics without principles is poison. Casteism, regional chauvinism, communalism and the custom of dowry were the greatest enemy of welfare and progress of the country."

"The imperative need of the hour is to visualize the grave dangers not only to our cherished political and social system, but to the very foundation of our values, if there is not greater discipline in national life...Undoubtedly, the nation has registered progress, especially during the last two or three years, but we must accelerate the pace and increase the momentum. We need vigour and the will to rekindle the moral timbre to channelize our energies for constructive purposes. We must eschew communal frenzy..."

"Towards the end of May 1984, Indira Gandhi mentioned nonchalantly that some people had suggested to her to send the police into the golden temple complex to flush out militants entrenched therein, but he was not exactly convinced on this course as it was likely to have an unfavorable fall out. But at the same time, she said she could not see any alternative."

"I seriously pondered over Mrs Gandhi’s thinking. I told her that this course would not be proper, as it would have serious repercussions. The entry of police into the complex was bound to inflame the public mind. Plausible alternatives could definitely be considered. She positively gave me an impression that she agreed to what I said. I tried my best to persuade her not to take any provocative step, but to adopt subtle methods to dislodge the armed men from religious places. Reflecting over this suggestion, she said that she would certainly apply her mind to other means, but did not disclose how her mind was working."

"A veteran of the Indian independence movement against Britain, he was personally popular for his earthy humor and political skills."

"He was a close political confidant of Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister from 1966-77 and 1980-84, who engineered his selection as President by the electoral college. Critics said this was a result of what they called his sycophancy, but the move was more widely seen as an attempt to calm Sikh militancy in Punjab."

"The honour has gone to a veteran soldier in the flight of freedom, and a man of the people. He is a man of humble origin but his achievements are impressive. Through unflinching devotion to the cause of freedom and development, and readiness to suffer for it, he has won the people’s trust. being so close to the soil and with his understanding of the weaker people's problems, and robust common sense, the President elect can be depended upon to serve the constitution with earnestness and dignity."

"I am not in the habit of making forecasts; but when I do I am usually right. I forecast that he will be the most popular President that India had so far. He is first Sikh, the first Punjabi, and the first person belonging to the backward classes to occupy Rashtrapathi Bhavan."

"He was tall, fair complexioned, well built, beautiful turban with white “achkan-churidar”, all-in-one form in his handsome personality. The only other to use the white turban was Dr Radhakrishnan|Dr Radhakrishnan. Dress in all white symbolizes purity. His love for a red-button rose which may be spontaneous reminds us all of [[Jawaharlal Nehru – Gandhiji’s political mentor who was never seen without a red-button rose."

"He was an impotent bystander in 1984 when government troops stormed the complex of the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar, the Sikhs’ holiest shrine, in an effort to apprehend militants who had been demanding autonomy for the northwestern Indian state of Punjab."

"He overwhelmingly won election to the largely ceremonial office. There was much speculation, however, that Gandhi had selected him in order to mollify Sikh extremists in Punjab, who had since mid-1982 become increasingly militant in that state."

"Darabara Singh blamed him [when he was Home Minister] for encouraging Sikh religious leader, Jarnail Singh Bindranwale, in his militant activities. … Darbara Singh said that when Bindranwwale had visited Delhi with his gun totting supporters, arrangements were made to arrest him on the national highway on his way back to Punjab, but he [Zail Singh] as Union Home Minister, cancelled these orders."

"The June 1984 assault on the Harmandir Sahib complex by government troops, which killed hundreds, put him in a difficult situation with the Sikh community—made worse by the violence against Sikhs that erupted following Gandhi’s assassination by her Sikh bodyguards four months later."

"He named Gandhi’s son, Rajiv, to succeed her, but he soon fell out of favour with the new prime minister. He further inflamed the government by refusing to sign into law a 1987 bill permitting official censorship of private mail."

"He was surprised when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi made him Union home minister after her return to power in 1980. He must have been even more surprised when she chose him as the Congress party's candidate for presidency two years later. It was clear to all but the gullible that she wanted a thoroughly dependable president. Moreover, a Sikh in Rashtrapati Bhawan could be a mollifying factor with militancy on the rise in Punjab."

"He claimed that even when he was the Union home minister, Indira Gandhi had been hesitant to discuss Punjab affairs with him and had given a free hand to Chief Minister Darbara Singh. The two had always been at daggers drawn."

"The chapter on this tragic episode [Operation Blue Star] is highly moving, reflecting the agony of a patriotic Sikh. No less a person than the President of India and the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, he was given "not even an inkling beforehand."

"After succeeding his mother, Rajiv Gandhi asked K.K. Tewary, a Congress MP, to make the reckless charge on the floor of the Lok Sabha that the president had sheltered terrorists in the [[w:Rashtrapati Bhawan|Rashtrapati Bhawan."

"He refutes as a canard, the allegation made by two BBC men in their book that it was he who had brought Bhindranwale to the political centre stage. Another "fantastic lie", spread by his detractors was that he had touched Bhindranwale's feet. He attributes all this calumny to Darbara Singh."

"He [Rajiv Gandhi] reacted in a lukewarm manner, saying that he was reviewing the situation. Ultimately, the army was called in but told not to open fire."

"Senior journalists including some editors had the time of their lives acting as self-appointed advisers to the president or prime minister. Slanderous stories doubting his patriotism were planted in the press. He [therefore] cannot be blamed for sending a message to Rajiv Gandhi that he too, was consulting legal experts on the possible dismissal of the prime minister or his prosecution on corruption charges."

"The dismissal threat was only a "deliberate ploy" by him to frighten the prime minister and regain the initiative for himself. The truth is that constitutional experts and even some opposition leaders had told him that the president had absolutely no authority to sack a prime minister enjoying majority support. Obviously, it was a war of nerves he was waging."

"In a dramatic move, he withheld his consent to a Bill to amend the Indian Postal Act of 1898, saying that it was too sweeping in its scope. He felt that the Government wanted arbitrary powers to intercept postal communications indiscriminately. This created a big sensation and memories of Indira Gandhi's infamous Emergency were revived. Obviously, the President was hitting Rajiv Gandhi where it would hurt most."

"Being able to stand up to injustice throughout once life, in the midst of great social change and upheaval, requires a robust and unconquerable spirit. One president of modern India had such spirit in ample measure. In his life time he challenged feudal princely power and foreign domination, and fought against communalism and social injustice. He was recognized as a learned and aristocratic personality but was also someone who was completely unassuming and a friend of the poor and downtrodden. He successfully combined as all these exceptional qualities"

"His humble origins as well his family’s background of being artisans of previous generations meant that he grew up with a healthy respect for work done with one’s hands. He learned to stitch clothes, crush stones, plough fields, lay roads and dig wells, understanding the needs and aspirations of the common man like few others have done in childhood."

"He showed pronounced thirst for knowledge right as an young boy and had completed ths study of Sikh religion, Sikh history, and Sikh scriptures by age when most complete only their school education, which earned him the honorific of ‘Giani’ meaning Scholar."