India: Kalam, The First Preference
India: Kalam, The First Preference
By Tanveer Jafri
The most popular President of India, Bharat Ratna Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who visualized making India a developed nation is going to leave his office term on July 24, 2007. The discussions for the candidature of the President of India are a common talk. In this regard, many agencies had got done many surveys, & their results clearly indicate that as candidate for the post of the President of India, the first preference of the common man of India, especially youths & students, is Dr. Kalam. But such are mere surveys. President of India can't be elected on this basis.
The previous ruling party in India, National Democratic Alliance (NDA), in the period of Atal Bihari Vajpayee term, name of Kalam was proposed. At that time the government was being led by Bhartiya Janta Party. To wipe out the tears of the Indian Muslims in the anti Muslim Gujarat riots in the country & to show the world, the secular face of the country, the Bhartiya Janta Party put forward the name of a saint like scientist Kalam as a candidate for the President of India. What a paradox! The political ends that made the name of Kalam as a candidate for the President of India is proving a great hindrance today to make him the candidate again.
President Kalam, who is going to complete his term of office on July 24, has succeeded in establishing himself as the most popular outspoken impartial & farsighted President. Not only this, he is also known as an ideal for the future generations of India, because of his great philosophy. During his term his main concern was centered on the point to make India a developed country by 2020. During his term, Kalam also expressed his worries about the immorality & falling standard of politics. He was always in favour of a strong & self dependent nation. He always gave an open call against the terrorism & poverty. He always pleaded for being self dependent in agriculture, economy & war equipments & even tried for it. Bharat Ratna Kalam, who considered the children as the future of the country, always showed his deep concern over the increasing atrocity on children. He always opposed the corruption, bribery, political immorality, communalism & casteism.
Because of the above philosophy of Kalam, he has become the most popular candidate for the President of the country. A survey agency has given him the first position on the basis of 60 percent popularity and another agency has kept him at first place because of 54 percent popularity. Not only this, a survey agency also claims that 60 percent of effective parliamentarians are in favour of Kalam as their first preference for the post of President of the country. Now the question is why the big political parties are hesitating to accept Kalam as their candidate? If according to the survey, Kalam is the 1 st preference of the common man, then why he is not the first preference of the political parties? A very important question is that during his present term of office, Kalam has not only won great popularity among his countrymen but he kept the grandeur of his office also. He kept his great ideals & so the country reached a high position. Then why are the political parties not united in making Kalam as a candidate? One thing is to be remembered that some professional politicians had expressed their views when Kalam was elected as President. They wanted some professional politicians on this chair & not a scientist.
That's why; the negative thinking of some selfish politicians is standing as an obstacle in the path of Kalam to become President. Kalam has tried to show a mirror to the Indian Parliamentarians on many bills that were controversial. More than once, the President has sent back to the Parliament, the controversial bills for perusal. Obviously the post, known as a rubber stamp, can't digest a person like Kalam who is well known for his farsightedness & is outspoken. Indian politics can't tolerate it. Kalam may have thought of many plans for the development of the country, he may be an ideal person for the Indian youths but a person like him is not liked by some politicians.
Here telling some facts about Kalam is justified. Kalam has thrown open his doors for the common man, children & especially students. It was all against the previous traditions. In this way, his doors remain no so opened for his kith & kin. Kalam had not tried for outside help for his candidature at the time of his first election & at present, too, he is not doing so. Even Kalam has expressed his unwillingness for the candidature for the second term. Kalam wants to go back to his popular & constructive profession & that is teaching. The persons who can think deeply & impartially about the Indian politics are of the views that Kalam, being a scientist & farsighted person, has done a lot to get India a proud position in the world. But in the constructive form, he couldn't pay India as much as he could have given without holding this highest office. Its only reason is the limited powers of the president given in the Indian constitution. It means when Parliament is sovereign, the President becomes helpless some times. At such occasions, whoever the President is, he can't go out of his limits.
So a common Indian citizen is sitting in the hope that God will show the path to all the political parties. They will leave their limited & selfish thoughts & make a common consent in making Kalam, a great man, the President of the country. Otherwise his adorers would think that the politics of India didn't suit Kalam. And Kalam didn't suit politics of India. Now it may be a good omen or a bad omen for the country. The person, who wanted to make India a developed country by 2020, couldn't get a common consent from the political parties on the issue of the candidature of this great man, for the President of India. If there is a common consent, then really, it would be a good omen. A farsighted person like me is of the view that Indian Parliament should be unanimous in making Kalam President of India up to 2020. For it they should not hesitate to amend the constitution even.
(About the Author)Author Tanveer Jafri
is a columnist based in India.He is related with hundreds of
most popular daily news papers/portals in India and abroad.
Jafri, Almost writes in the field of communal harmony, world
peace, anti communalism, anti terrorism, national
integration, national & international politics etc.He is a
devoted social activist for world peace, unity, integrity &
global brotherhood. Tanveer Jafri is also a member of
Haryana Sahitya Academy & Haryana Urdu Academy (state govt.
bodies in India). Thousands articles of the author have been
published in different newspapers, websites & newsportals
throughout the world. He is also a receipent of so many
awards in the field of Communal Harmony & other social
activities.
(Email : tanveerjafriamb@gmail.com
)