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of Goa and Diu or active cooperation in the Gauraksha (cow
protection) movement that was a point of devotion, whether it
was the holding of a successful programme to reach millions of
people of Gujarat or to hold public meetings to honour Guruji,
whether it was creation of linguistic states or construction of
the state Sangh office in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, whether it was
the attack of China crushing all hopes of peace talks in free India
or the impact of repeatedly held elections on public life, whether
it was the Pakistani attack on the Kutch border or the departure
of two prime ministers in a brief period of three years. Whether
it was the birth of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad that could awaken
a spirit of revolution in the Hindus in the capacity of a positive
force or the contribution of millions of Gujaratis in constructing
a glorious memorial for Vivekananda in Kanyakumari on the
occasion of his birth centenary, whether it was firing on the saints
demanding action for protection of the cow or attacks on
religious places in Gujarat conjoined with widespread
communal riots, whether it was the creation of Bangladesh or
war with Pakistan, whether it was the organisation of a massive
Hindu conference in Siddhapur or the illness of the Param Pujya
Guruji, whether it was the imposition of emergency threatening
the very existence of democracy or struggle to get it scraped,
whether it was the success of the silver jubilee programme of
self-study in Bombay or the manifestation of power of common
people in the general elections, whether it was the destructive
floods at Morbi or fall of the Janata Party government, whether
it was a movement to safeguard the honour of the Hindu
community or a communal commotion in the garb of communal
movement, whether it was the movement to free Ram
Janmabhumi or any other event having direct or indirect bearing
on Vakil Saheb; if you wish to know his views on every such
event, how he viewed and understood these events, how he
planned to settle these events – all these could lead to writing
an independent history. Despite all this, it was no easy task to
assess his public life.

There is a couplet sung in the Sangh:
‘Shapath lena to saral hai,