70 Mahendra Chaudhry Quotes

Mahendra Chaudhry quotes

1. 'I was born here. I am not a foreigner here. I have every right to fight for this country. We are not going to subjugate ourselves to a constitution ... signing away all our rights and agreeing to be slaves.'

2. 'There is absolutely no doubt that our future as a nation, lies in drawing strength from the richness of the cultural diversity that surrounds us, for in that alone lies our sustainability and viability as a sovereign state.'

3. 'It is part of our identity as Hindus and the Festival of Lights is today a celebration of the beauty of our culture, our Hindu values which, let me assure you, are second to none in the world.'

4. 'We as a community have become so immersed in rituals and hundreds of paraphernalia when it comes to religion that we are no longer aware of the real wisdom of Hinduism.'

5. 'This nation made a mistake the first time it granted amnesty to the perpetrators of the 1987 coup. The trust and confidence we showed then was sadly displaced. This time around, we must take a hard line attitude to those who think they can overthrow a democratically-elected government with impunity. We have to stamp out this coup-culture that has developed in Fiji.' (20 May 2005)

6. 'It is disgraceful that the Prime Minister should deceive Church leaders to get their support for the Bill. He then had the audacity to mislead the nation by claiming that the Bill had the support of Christians.' (Commenting on allegations made by Roman Catholic Archbishop Petero Mataca that Qarase had misled church leaders about the true contents of the legislation).

7. 'It is wrong for others to be asking for forgiveness on behalf of those who had committed the crime because it is not right.' (29 June 2005)

8. 'The current provisions in the Bill purporting to promote reconciliation are seriously flawed. There should be clear provisions for those appearing before the reconciliation commission to admit the truth under oath and to divulge all that they know about the events of 2000.' (2 August 2005)

9. 'Without [the coup perpetrators] divulging the information they have, there can not really be any reconciliation. It will merely be a vehicle for them to escape justice as is the provision in the current Bill. There is no compulsion on them to come and tell the truth to the Commission about what actually happened, who were behind it, who were the key figures?' (2 August 2005)

10. 'If the trend continues, Fiji will be left with a large pool of poorly educated, unskilled work force with disastrous consequences on our social and economic infrastructure and levels of investment.'

11. 'A lack of good governance, political instability, declining law and order situation, racial discrimination and lack of opportunities are the major reasons driving people away from Fiji.'

12. 'All too often, problems are left to simmer until too late, with disastrous consequences to the people who become victims of the excesses committed on them by self-centred and self-serving leaders.'

13. 'To hide behind culture or tradition to justify anarchy is a gross insult to the very people whose culture or tradition may be paraded to glorify criminal conduct.'

14. 'I firmly believe that you all should identify yourselves as Fijian Americans, Fijian Canadians even though this right of being called a Fijian is denied to us (except the indigenous people) in our homeland of Fiji.'

15. 'It (North America) has drawn heavily from the strength of each community of its people to build the richest and the most powerful nations on earth. You are privileged and fortunate to be in a land that recognises and rewards individual talent and enterprise.'

16. 'These coups did not bolster indigenous rights as claimed by its perpetrators instead they left us a legacy of a shattered economy, lost opportunities, racial rivalries and tensions, political divisiveness, unprecedented levels of poverty and unemployment and so on - yes that is exactly what the three coups have reduced our nation to.'

17. 'The 18 years since 1987 brought us nothing but bad leadership and bad governance. '

18. 'Viewed against such a backdrop, there is creeping anxiety about the future of our nation, characterised as it is by deep communal divisions and a disturbingly high rate of out-migration of our skilled people.'

19. 'You have the choice to be governed by those who aim to keep us segregated in racial compartments so they can continue to enjoy their privileged status in society, at your expense.'

20. 'If you as the voters exercise this choice then you must remain content with whatever has come your way in the past four years under the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua rule. But no, you must indeed be prepared to face even worst times because under the SDL there will be more instability and divisiveness. The economy will dip further, more and more people will be leaving our shores and the resources of the indigenous people will continue to be shamelessly exploited by bureaucrats, unscrupulous politicians and their collaborators for their own gain.'

21. 'I have always held the belief that Fijians must be integrated into the mainstream of national life. You can't keep them isolated from the other communities and from the mainstream of life and expect them to progress.'

22. 'The status quo is not good for the ordinary Fijians. It is good for the elites in society but not for the ordinary Fijians. This is why you have not seen the ordinary Fijians progress much in the last 35 years since independence. It needs a change in policy and strategies for the development of the grassroots Fijian people.'

23. 'A more individual approach to society must be taken. That is an incentive based system which will ensure that given the appropriate training, guidance and advice they will progress through such are system as other communities have.'

24. 'You can still fulfil your traditional obligations but the contradiction in the system between the communal approach and the free market approach needs to be addressed.'

25. 'Culture is also something that can not be stagnant.'

26. 'It is these double standards that have and are still keeping the ordinary Fijian shackled to a now outdated system of feudal control, thus contributing to their poverty and misery, whilst certain chiefs and a large number of Fijian elites continue to substantially increase their wealth at the expense of their poorer subjects.'

27. 'The rule of law must apply equally to everyone, irrespective of status in society or class divisions it is this equal application that is the bulwark of modern democracies.'

28. 'It was the FLP that was committed to reducing the cost of doing business and started by lowering the cost of utilities, and requested the commercial banks and lending organizations to reduce their fees, charges and interest rates. The FLP also moved to reduce public expenditure, which saw a saving of $96 million in its year in office. It was also the FLP, which lowered interest in Housing Authority home loans from 12 per cent to 6 per cent for those on lower incomes. It was the aggregate effect of this and a range of other measures of tight fiscal control, investment in key growth areas and a firm hand on curbing corruption that saw the economy record an unprecedented growth of 9.6% in 1999.'

29. 'As a nation we have not progressed much, particularly after 1987 when we had the political upheaval. Last 18 years since has been a sad story where we have seen a nation which was happy, prosperous, and united flight back to poverty, misery, and division.'

30. 'The last 18 years has been spent standing and trying to catch up on things, and as we were getting out of that we had another coup in 2000 so we were thrown back again several. That is how I see this day: it is a day of honest reflection and if we want to move the nation forward than we have to really determine the way, learn to read ourselves to the problem that we have and particularly the people who cause this problem.'

31. 'The message in the last five years, in particular, has come through loud and clear: We need to get together as a nation. If we are to surmount our many problems, if we are to realise our full potential as a nation so that the benefits of developments are passed on to all and sundry, then we must reject racist and fundamentalist forces.'

32. 'At no time did I ask Shri Chautala to launch such an appeal which he did at a public meeting in Haryana and in the course of my visit to India following my release from captivity.'

33. 'My detractors here are engaged in a propaganda that I have received the money and used it for my own purposes.

34. 'My anger about the whole episode is that Shri Chautala should exploit the feelings of the ordinary and poor folks of Haryana who are emotionally tied to me and to the people of Indian origin in Fiji and play on them a game of deceit for self enrichment.'

35. 'Christ's message is universal: To do good, to care for the poor, to love one's neighbour, to serve honestly and with integrity.'

36. 'I'm sure that with tolerance and understanding of each other's cultural identities, compassion for those less fortunate than ourselves and a passionate commitment to all that is fair, socially just and honest we can build a united and prosperous society in Fiji.'

37. 'But first we must get rid of the bigotry, the fundamentalism and the misconceptions that continue to threaten to keep us apart as a nation.'

38. 'The Government's determination to push through the controversial Amnesty Bill has created deep divisions in the nation, and leaves behind indelible impressions of an administration that backs lawless elements in society.'

39. Laisenia Qarase, Prime Minister since 2000: '(These protests) are led by a man who has been convicted by the Suva magistrate's court for causing the death of a person. Mr Chaudhry himself was convicted sometime back for manslaughter and he was released from prison only three days after serving his sentence on a CSO (Compulsory Supervision Order).' (accusing Chaudhry of hypocrisy for campaigning against the early release of politicians jailed for their part in the 2000 coup).

1. If dinner needs to be served to the father, if clothes need to be ironed, parents ask the girl to do it, not the boy. Why? Equality needs to begin at home.

2. There is no particular dream role in my mind but I would love to play a 'surprised character' which makes people say, 'Omigosh, that was Mahima.'

3. I don't know how my mom put up with us. We'd walk around school in torn jeans, put on this punk-rock image and sing ballads everywhere we went.

4. When I slowly got my confidence back, Akshay Kumar said why don't you be a part of 'Dhadkan' and then slowly I started picking up cameos and guest appearances, and those became hit.

5. I started judging a few television shows, making appearances at functions or cutting ribbons because it was convenient for me. It also gave me quick and good money. Now, when I look back, I feel those assignments ruined me as an actress.

6. When I was doing 'Pardes,' I was offered 'Satya.'

7. I met a lot of people in Kolkata who said Sanjiv Khanna is a wonderful, well-spoken man.

8. Ram Gopal Varma had signed me for 'Satya' and two days before the shoot, I was dropped out of the film. He didn't even have the decency to call me or my manager and inform me about the reality. I learnt from the press that he had begun shooting without me.

9. Like cricket, hockey too needs to be a lucrative career option.

10. I have not told anyone about deejaying. I developed a liking for it when I saw some girls becoming DJs.

11. I came back and started living with my parents, and you depend a lot on your parents. That was the time when my mother was diagnosed with an illness; she needed help and she could not be of that great help for raising my child.

12. I always wanted to sing to huge audiences.

13. When I go to speak at schools, I speak to mothers and fathers, because the way we are raising kids in our country is wrong.

14. They put a picture of me on a magazine's cover and wrote 'Mahima had an accident. She's got scars all over the face. We can actually call her scarface.' It still hurts me.

15. You should have the same rules for boys and girls at homes. You should ask them the same questions because there is a defect in the way we are raising our kids. You have to give them the same liberties, the same treatment, and the same freedom.

16. We all are brought up on some values, and I believe values define a man's character.

17. Every time I wanted to go out and do an event, go out and do a show, I used to come drop my child at my mother's home and then I stayed back two days and I used to feel, 'I'm so much more comfortable here.'

18. I enjoy the New Year best by performing in front of a huge crowd.

19. In fact, do monogamous men exist at all?

20. There were rumors in the magazines that I was seeing Ajay Devgn. That made me even more uncomfortable.

21. When a boy comes home late from college, nobody questions him. But if a girl is late by even half an hour, the mother asks, 'Kahan thi?' Why are you not asking the boy where he was?

22. Like every actor I too have some 'classics' in the closet, but I am not keen on adding to that collection.

23. I do not think that my life starts and ends with films. I do not use my profession as my identification.

24. I only worked out towards being fit!

25. I know that there is life beyond films. I know the difference between reel and real.

26. Every time I go on stage, it's like living my childhood dream, so it's really great.

27. It was wonderful working with Kundan Shah. He is a very good director.

28. I know many men who say they are not meant for marriage - they don't believe in the institution. I respect them more than someone who cheats behind your back.

29. It was the last day of the shoot in Bangalore. An early morning shoot. I sat in the car. A milk truck was coming from the wrong side and it rammed into my car. The glass pieces came like bullets into my face. I was preparing for a life without cinema. I was learning how to cope up with it. Anything that happened post that was just God's gift.

30. I believe God is a big leveler in life.

31. It might be the most inspiring film in the world, but if I do not like it I will not do it. I have to believe in the film to take it up.