Ansari unveils Aiyar's collection of articles

Vice President Hamid Ansari tonight released a book comprising collection of columns written by Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on issues including democracy and secularism.

Vice President Hamid Ansari released a book on Tuesday night comprising collection of columns written by Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on issues including democracy and secularism.

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The book titled 'A Time of Transition: Rajiv Gandhi to the 21st Century' is a collection of columns written by Aiyar in The Indian Express between 1996 and 2004 on issues such as democracy, secularism, socialism, non-alignment and neighbourhood policy.

In the book, Aiyar has termed Rajiv Gandhi as the last great Nehruvian.

Ansari said that transition was a part of life and neighbours were god given and it was "upon you to live with them in peace or without peace".

Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri were also present on the occasion.

Kasuri recalled that India and Pakistan missed two opportunities to take forward the peace process as a visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Islamabad could not materialise once because of assembly elections in some states about two years ago and another when Pakistan's Chief Justice was removed leading to disturbances in that country.

Kumaratunga lamented that a system to provide power to local authorities in her island nation could not materialise due to political compulsions.