Didn't receive papers on Afzal's mercy plea: Kalam

BUSY AFTER RETIREMENT: Former President APJ Abdul Kalam says politicians must focus on develoment.

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New Delhi: Former President APJ Abdul Kalam has denied he delayed taking a decision on the clemency petition of Mohammed Afzal Guru, who has been given death in the Parliament attack case.

"Regarding Afzal Guru, I have not received any papers from the ministry concerned so far," Kalam said in an interview to India Today.

Kalam, who sent Afzal’s plea to the Home Ministry for its views, said if the papers had come to him he “would have processed them for their worth". The BJP and other Opposition parties allege the Centre is delaying a decision on Afzal’s petition to appease minorities.

Kalam didn’t regret another controversial decision of his tenure: allowing the government to impose President's rule in Bihar in 2005 while he was in Moscow.

"I have no regrets. At that time, I was in Russia and I took the decision there. I had detailed discussions with the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) on the issue and whatever other information I needed was electronically transmitted to me. Based on that, I took the decision," he said.

Kalam said he had "certain questions and the Prime Minister discussed it with me twice".

He justified returning the Office of Profit Bill to Parliament. "I had to return it to Parliament for the first time. Naturally, they had to debate and discuss it in Parliament. It had created the necessary impact."

Kalam said Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, the two Prime Ministers he had worked with, had "unique core competence" and were the "thinking type".

He had an "excellent relationship" with both PMs, who men of few words but were action-oriented.

‘My plate is full’

Kalam said political discourse in the country lacked focus and development was not being talked about. "It is not being given the highest priority in all political decisions. For instance, no political party has defined which year India would become economically developed. Nor have they discussed how competitive India should be compared to other countries," he said.

Every political leader must spend at least 70 per cent on development. "But the reverse is taking place," he said adding "I wish our electorate would choose leaders on the basis of their developmental track record."

Asked would he say yes if he were offered the Prime Minister’s post, he said: "This is a juicy question for you. But it looks hypothetical to me. My plate is already full."

He, however, felt that the President could play a greater role. "What he thinks, he wants to do, he can do. If he thinks big, he can do it. The post doesn't restrict the person at all. If the President has vision, he can propagate it and nobody can prevent that," he said.

Kalam argued that "self-reliance" was the only way for nuclear energy. He was asked about concerns voiced by some political parties that the Indo-US nuclear deal would compromise the country's strategic capability,

"We have to take the thorium route since we have large reserves of it available. Our scientists can lead to thorium-based nuclear reactor for energy production. I believe in them".