Mukesh Ambani Speaks

Mumbai belongs to all of India: Mukesh Ambani
PTI, 27 January 2010, 12:21pm IST

LONDON: Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has said the recent controversy over making knowledge of Marathi mandatory for issuing taxi permits in Mumbai was unfortunate and said the metropolis belongs to all of India.

"We are all Indians first. Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi belong to all Indians. That is the reality," he said on Tuesday during a panel discussion at the London School of Economics organised to release Rajya Sabha MP N K Singh's book, 'Not by Reason Alone: The Politics of Change'.
Ambani's remark that while India's corporate world had moved away from 'licence raj' after economic liberalisation, Mumbai's "poor taxiwala is still dealing with licence raj" was received with applause from the gathering.

Responding to a question on the taxi drivers controversy, Ambani said the real challenge and opportunity was whether India was able to create 15 to 20 million new jobs every year.

The Maharashtra government has, however, rescinded its order on making knowledge of Marathi a pre-condition to awarding taxi permits a day after proposing it.

"Employment is the biggest challenge in the coming years. We are not moving fast enough," Ambani said.
Rajya Sabha MP N K Singh termed the controversy over renewing taxi licences in Mumbai as "misplaced populism".

Ambani noted that many Indian professionals abroad were returning because of the many opportunities for self- fulfillment in India.

He said the next 20 years would be full of opportunities for the returning Indian professionals that will have an impact on millions of people back home.

"India is blessed with connections in Europe and in the US that raise our status as a country. The achievements of our diaspora help India, but whatever had to be done in the West, has been done. Now is the time to come back; there are more opportunities in India," he said.

After the event, Ambani was mobbed by eager students, most of them Indians, as they vied to speak to him and take photographs with him. He cheerfully interacted with them and invited them to Mumbai.

Security personnel had to intervene to escort Ambani to his car.

The above statement by Mukesh Ambani after the earlier one by Sachin Tendulkar is like a breath of fresh air after the obnoxious and foul statements issued by the two imbeciles, Bal and Raj and seconded by the Congress Chief Ministers Ashok Chavan and Sheila Dixit.
If our government had any patriotism, as soon as any person issued such divisive statements he should be packed off immediately to the Andamans.
There is no place for such people in the Indian Union.
What Sardar Patel did in uniting India is being undone by these parochial, selfish leaders who cater to vote bank politics.
The same is the case with reservations.
We have had enough of reservations.
People of all castes and religion should get the benefits accorded to the poor people, irrespective of whether they are converts or no.
The pangs of hunger affects everyone, equally.
The only condition should be that the people should be Indians and not infiltrators from Bangladesh or Pakistan.
Since they opted to separate from us. let them look after their own people