Zail Singh Quotes

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.

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.

In the first 48 to 72 hours, no one including the Prime Minister turned up at Rashtrapati Bhavan to brief the President as is the convention even now in India.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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 was tall, fair complexioned, well built, beautiful turban with white “achkan-[[w:Churidar|churidar”, all-in-one form in his handsome personality. The only other to use the white turban was 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.

Once Faridkot was merged with the state of Patiala and east Punjab states [known as PEPSU], he became a Minister for Revenue and Agriculture. He introduced the revolutionary steps of abolition of absentee landlordism and ensuring the security of tenancy and the rights of tenants, which won him acclaim.

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