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Unity Of Minds
'Any act by anyone anywhere in India that runs counter to
the eternal values -- non-violence,
tolerance,
acceptance of all religions and different ways of life, search for truth and
fearlessness
would pose a threat to the fabric of free Indian nation.'
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Following
is the full text of the President's address to the
nation on the eve of Independence Day.
My
dear citizens of India,
On
the eve of the 55th anniversary of our Independence, I have great pleasure in
offering you my best wishes for your well-being and happiness. My salutations
to all of you both in India and abroad.
May
I extend a special word of gratitude to the men of our defence who guard our
frontiers on the land, on the sea and in the air and paramilitary forces. May I
also convey my special appreciation to our farmers who toil on the fields,
technicians who keep the wheels of our industry moving, teachers who create
knowledge products to the society and doctors, engineers, scientists,
technologists and other professionals and administrators who are the prime
movers of national development. May I wish the youth
of India whose purposeful hard work with sweat will be a major transforming
force for prosperous India.
I
met some of the freedom fighters a few days ago at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Each
and every one of them was the live force for our freedom
movement. On this day, I salute all men and women of India who fought
for our freedom and sacrificed their lives to achieve our Independence. Seeding
a great vision and an indomitable spirit to achieve India's freedom took place
around 1857. For 90 years, there were a number of intensive struggles for
freedom. Many of our people and leaders were in jail and their sufferings got
transformed into freedom movement, with national ethos under the leadership of
Mahatma Gandhi. I have tried to capture the essence of the freedom movement.
Two aspects have come out: as a result of supreme sacrifices and dedicated and
focused efforts, we got our Independence. The second aspect is that the vision
driven movement itself created many leaders in different spheres of politics,
economics, industry, science, arts and culture.
After
Independence, India has made significant achievements in agriculture and food
production, energy, healthcare, education and various fields of science and
technology. Particularly we have made our mark in the international arena in the
fields of pharmaceuticals, information technology, mass media and
communication, space, defence and nuclear science.
Similar
to the first vision, which created a movement to achieve freedom with unity of
minds of our people and the unity of purpose in actions, we need a second
vision, which will integrate people from all walks of our society towards a
common purpose. The second vision of our nation is to transform it from the
present developing status to a developed nation by integrated actions simultaneously
in the areas of agriculture and food processing, education and healthcare,
infrastructure development including power, information and communication
technologies, and critical technologies. This greater vision will aim to
alleviate poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. When the minds of the people of
our country are unified and fused towards this vision, the dormant potential
will manifest as a mammoth power leading to a happy and prosperous life of a
billion people. This vision of the nation will also remove the conflicts
arising out of differences and small thinking.
Dear
citizens, I would like to reiterate that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part
of India. It is not an international issue. India is ready for bilateral
dialogue once the cross border terrorism is brought to a complete end. Normal
election process is on in Jammu and Kashmir. It is essential to ensure its
successful completion and dawn of peace in Jammu and Kashmir.
We
also have many challenges in front of us. We have to find a solution to the
repeated droughts and floods; we have to eradicate communal and other divisive
clashes sprouting in certain parts and remove the pains of our people whether
it is in Jammu and Kashmir or in any other part of our country; we also have to
find a permanent solution to combat terrorism.
Let
us now look at a long-term problem. It is paradoxical to see floods in one part
of our country while some other parts face drought. This drought - flood
phenomenon is a recurring feature. The need of the hour is to have a water
mission which will enable availability of water to the fields, villages, towns
and industries throughout the year, even while maintaining environmental
purity. One major part of the water mission would be networking of our rivers.
Technological and project management capabilities of our country can rise to
the occasion and make this river networking a reality with long term planning
and proper investment. In addition, the vast sea around us can help by
providing potable water through desalination as a cost effective technology. There
are of course short term techniques such as water harvesting by revitalizing
rural ponds, water recycling to water conservation. Such programmes should have
a large scale people participation even at the conceptual and project planning
stages. The entire programme should revolve around economic viability leading
to continued prosperity for our people with larger employment potential,
environmental sustainability, grass root level motivation and benefit sharing.
I
would now like to share with you friends, another crucial requirement and
necessity for our country. We cannot sustain a second vision for the country
without Unity of Minds of all our people. Our great strength is our pluralistic
tradition and civilisational heritage of nearly 3000 years. I have always been
asking myself what the strength of our heritage is. A unique fusion has taken
place with multiple cultures, religions and the way of life of many parts of
the world and that has become the foundation of the Indian life. One can trace
from 1857 to date, the type of good experiences we have had and also the strife
resulting out of the differences in thoughts.
I
have just now returned from Gujarat after interactions with various cross
sections of people, leaders, officials and rehabilitation workers in the areas
affected by recent disturbances and earthquake. I also visited the Sabarmati
Ashram which was established by Mahatma Gandhi for the purpose of our
countrymen to carry on the search for truth and develop fearlessness. I sat in
silence for a while in the Ashram and remembered the life of Gandhiji. One
dominant thought came to my mind. If we can go above our own personal hardships
and see the problems of others and decide to work for a larger cause, then
there is natural elevation of our minds. When we are lax in this, then our
level of thinking goes down. I felt confident that all of us can be elevated to
the level of noble minds, if we just decide to understand others and to
practice tolerance. I realized that Gujarat has given the noble leader -
Mahatma Gandhi, unifier of the nation - Vallabhbhai Patel and the great
visionary in science and technology - Vikram Sarabhai and many more. Time has
come for every one of us to put the thoughts of these great souls into action
for nation's welfare.
Non-violence,
tolerance, acceptance of all religions and different ways of life, search for
truth and fearlessness are the values the Mahatma taught us and they are the
cornerstones of our civilisational heritage and, therefore, of Indian polity.
Any act by anyone anywhere in India that runs counter to these eternal values
would pose a threat to the fabric of free Indian nation which was born and
nurtured by the supreme sacrifices of countless noble souls. We should all work
together to achieve the mission for Unity of Minds to preserve what we so
preciously earned and reach greater heights in the future.
When
I interact with school children and youth, wherever I go, one question comes
often. They ask me "who are our role models?" Parents and teachers
have to show them by example to live as enlightened citizens. Children also
look for role models at national level in different fields. I have described
earlier the role models from Gujarat. Each state of our country has many such
examples of the past. It is now time we create more role models from the
present. I suggest that members of our Parliament and Legislatures can shape
the future of our children by becoming good role models. Parliament and
Legislatures have a crucial role in giving the vision of developed India and
value based polity. Our children should see the members of the Parliament
debating the vision of developed India, providing action plans and putting
forth great thoughts and challenges to them. Looking at the national leaders,
the children will find their role models for their development and growth.
I
am sure, our leadership and our people can achieve the second vision of
developed India. Let us take a vow on this Independence Day that the nation is
more important compared to any individual, party or organisation.
I
pray to the Almighty for Unity of Minds and our success in every aspect of
life.
'Jai Hind'
