Sushma Swaraj
On 6 August 2019, Sushma Swaraj died in New Delhi, bringing to a close a career that had taken her from Ambala Cantonment, where she was born on 14 February 1952, to the centre of Indian political life. Her work as a lawyer, jurist, and politician spanned the latter half of the twentieth century and the early decades of the twenty-first.
Swaraj was educated at Sanatan Dharma College, Panjab University, and Kurukshetra University. That academic background underpinned her career as a lawyer and jurist before she moved into politics, the field she would occupy for much of her working life. She was Indian, and it was within Indian public institutions that she built her career.
The most prominent office she held was that of Minister of External Affairs of India, a position she occupied from 2014 to 2019. In that role she was responsible for the country's foreign policy and diplomatic engagements. During this period she received the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit, an honour conferred by a foreign government, reflecting her work on the international stage. She also received the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for her contributions in the legislature.
Among the formal recognitions Swaraj accumulated across her career, the Padma Vibhushan in Public Affairs stands alongside the Banga Bibhushan as acknowledgements of her record in public service. She died in New Delhi in the same year her term as Minister of External Affairs concluded, on 6 August 2019.
Quotes by Sushma Swaraj
These nations, in which U.N. designated terrorists roam freely, lead processions, and deliver their poisonous sermons of hate with impunity, are as culpable as the very terrorists they harbour. Such countries should have no place in the comity of nations.
Why did the Pakistani military attack us on behalf of JeM? You not only keep JeM on your soil but fund them, and when the victim country retaliates, you attack it on the terror outfit's behalf.
We do not want talk on terror; we want action on it. Terror and talks cannot go together.
We must be prepared to extract costs for those who sponsor and support terrorists, who provide them sanctuary, and who, despite their own claimed victimhood, continue to make the false distinction between good and bad terrorists.
India and Pakistan became free within hours of each other. Why is it that today India is a recognised IT superpower in the world, and Pakistan is recognised only as the pre-eminent export factory for terror?
I am a personal advocate of strong ties between India and Israel, so I am very happy to see that our relations are progressing so well in all fields of our engagement.
I served as the chairman of the India-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group for three years, during which I also had the pleasure of visiting Israel.
