Speech by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP to Retired Officers and War veterans at the RSI, Bangalore 24th Sep 2008

Distinguished Gentlemen,

Good morning and thank you for having me here this morning.

There are many challenges facing our nation today – notwithstanding the rhetoric of us becoming a superpower etc. I am one of those who believe that there is a lot that requires to be done before we can achieve that objective.

I am focused therefore on the issues that are critical to building a strong and confident India. One of the issues is the important issue of building and strengthening the institutions that are the building blocks of our great nation. The Armed forces are one of them – and the Armed forces are the people who make up the forces. I strongly believe and have always believed that the forces are the last of the few professional, secular institutions that are still driven by a sense of nationalism and duty - Values that unfortunately have disappeared or are disappearing from almost all other areas of public service.

It is in this context that I have been working since I have joined active Politics – to put a spotlight on these critical challenges and issues facing the men and women of the forces. The issues that I have taken up and am following are the Pay commission, War veterans’ memorials, modernizing of the forces etc.

The war Veterans memorial is one way that people of Karnataka are giving their thanks to the years of service and duty of the many officers and men from this State. We have to thank our Chief Minister, who, without a minute’s hesitation, sanctioned my idea. I hope that other States follow the lead and that we also have an Arlington War memorial type Veterans Park in Delhi. I have discussed this with the Raksha Mantri and will try and jog him into action as well.

I will continue to do that in my own way as well by working with other MPs to create a consensus and momentum around these issues and ideas. For all the stories of bad politicians you hear, I can assure you that there are as many well meaning Political activists and players who mean well for their nation and feel as much for it as you and I do.

Jai Hind.