Atal Bihari Vajpayee's note of dissent on Arms Act

[mundaire]

This poll season I thought it may be appropriate to remind everyone about former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's note of dissent on the Arms Act 1959

Note of Dissent by MP & member of the Joint Committee set up to review the Arms Bill 1958 which later on went on to become the Arms Act 1959

Gazette of India (Extraordinary), Part II, Section 2, New Delhi, Monday, August 10, 1959/ Sravana 19, 1881 (vide pages 787 to 790)

"The present Bill seeks to repeal the Indian Arms Act enacted by the British rulers eighty years ago with a view to disarm the whole nation. Apart from the consideration of safeguarding the Empire, this policy of depriving the whole people of arms was motivated in the main by a sense of deep distrust and an attitude of contempt towards the Indian people. I am sorry to note that even after twelve years of independence, the present Government have not been able to shake off completely the legacy of their predecessors. The present Bill as by the Joint Committee is an improvement on the original Bill no doubt, but traces of this distrust linger still, and restrain the Bill from going as far as it should. Hence this note of dissent."

"The right to bear and carry arms is an inviolable and sacred right of every free citizen and though this has not been included in the list of fundamental rights enumerated in the Indian Constitution, the right of self defence accepted and guaranteed by the Indian Penal Code implicitly acknowledges the right to possess arms. Since India is not in a position to run into a race of armaments with big powers, or their satellites, surrounding our boundaries and having hostile and expansionist designs against us, the only course open for us is to arm our people and make military training compulsory for all adults and able-bodied citizens...."

"....The present Bill seeks to liberalise the licensing provisions, but the liberalisation is very halting, the procedure of securing a license still remains irksome and dilatory and the license-seeker left to the whims and caprice of the bureaucracy...."

Atal Bihari Vajpayee
New Delhi, the 8th of August,1959.

He was a young Member of Parliament at the time and his note (above) was the sole voice of dissent on the Arms Act 1959. It is a pity and a reflection on the lack of lobbying effort that during his 6 year tenure as Prime Minister, this issue was never raised and no attempt towards positive change was made at the time.

Food for thought.

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[sa_ali]

Its a real pitty that we dont have him active now, else he would have being big boast to the movement.

[gwattal]

Thanks for this gem

[hvj1]

Well, I wonder where Mr. Modi stands on the Arms act and RKBA. But I think he may lean towards RKBA favorably.

[captrakshitsharma]

This is a visionary 's depth of perception. So aptly worded....

[James_Bond]

Well, I wonder where Mr. Modi stands on the Arms act and RKBA. But I think he may lean towards RKBA favorably.

Hope

[Kittu]

thanks abhijeet
for sharing.naagri will have to do lots of work in coming days

[moulindu]

Well, I wonder where Mr. Modi stands on the Arms act and RKBA. But I think he may lean towards RKBA favorably.

Not sure about that. But if he impose no liquor act like Gujrat, then it will be an issue for many

[TC]

Thank you so much Abhijeet,
This is priceless input.
As far as the Modi government in Gujarat is concerned, if I am not wrong there was strict restriction on issuing of licenses always. Probably certain incidents had a lot to do with it but on the whole I don't think the picture was any different from the rest of India.

TC

[brihacharan]

Well, I wonder where Mr. Modi stands on the Arms act and RKBA. But I think he may lean towards RKBA favorably.

> I sincerely, fervently & wholeheartedly hope & wish that our PM elect Mr. Modi champions the cause...
Briha

[essdee1972]

Abhijeet, can you put up the source? I need to show this to my extended family.......

[vkpd]

Abhijeet....always good to read a note dating back in history and this one penned by Vajpayee.
Since any liberalisation in the Arms Act can only be affected by legislation, it would be important to gauge the mood of the legislators and their views on the subject and supersedeing all of them is the man of the moment - "Narendra Damodardas Modi"!
One would recall wide media coverage last year showing images of Sri Modi performing "Shashastra Puja" in full public glare not only of his weapons but also of the SPG jawans that guard him. This indicates that the man is well aware of the place weapons occupy in ones life - as a guardian and protector of life and property.
We rue the fact today that while Sri Vajpayee was at the helm of affairs, we could not effect any suitable changes in gun laws. Now, 15 years down the line, an opportunity presents itself again and I would say its our best chance yet. It would be an opportune time for the RKBA movement to gather its resources and make a spirited attempt to reach out to a proactive leader like Modi who has shown the will to act.

[mundaire]

Abhijeet, can you put up the source? I need to show this to my extended family.......

The source is mentioned in the post -

Gazette of India (Extraordinary), PartII, Section 2, New Delhi, Friday, February 20,1959/Phalguna 1 (vide pages 787 to 790)

EDIT: I just checked http://www.egazette.nic.in and it seems I got the dates mixed up! It should be August 10, 1959/ Sravana 19, 1881. The Feb 20 one contained the proposed Arms Act and the Aug 10 one contains the report of the Joint Committee on the bill. I've attached the relevant document in PDF format for the benefit of all. Shri. AB Vajpayee's note of dissent is on pages 25-28 of the PDF file.