"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake
I am aiman kulsoom rizvi and it gives me great pride to be here on this 66th independence year of india.
15TH august 1947 has indeed been one of the most legendary moments in history. Etched forever in the sands of time was the reinvention of Hindustan. But not all the memories of that day are as glorious as history books have taught us. The lives of thousands lost in the mad rush to be on the right side. Soldiers bleeding away to protect the people from the violent elements. Brothers slaughtering each other all in the name of religion. Those were indeed some dark moments. And we owe it to our freedom fighters, our soldiers, our jawaans to have got us through those bleak times and delivered us to the world. Our freedom has been no mean feat. It comes with the price of the blood of our jawaans and the sweat of our kissans. Their undaunted fighting spirit, their remarkable courage and above all their undying patriotism must not be forgot on this 67th year of independence. But today is not just about remembrance, it is also about commemorating a legacy. A legacy that the entire world looks up to. We are a leading economy, the third largest democracy in the world. We are a nation who combine tradition with invention, morals with ethics, culture with progress in ways that no other nation does. However over the past few decades not all has been well. We have seen a rise in corruption, a decline in morals. But we as Indians must not lose hope. It is in our blood to fight for what is right. We are a youthful and an aspirational nation And we are rearing to go. Our forefathers had a dream. A dream that we can and we will unite and fight the real enemy. The enemy who is hidden yet so manifest. The real enemy ladies and gentlemen poverty,ignorance, disease and inequality of opportunity.
The following is an excerpt from the address made by the first prime minister of india to the constituent assembly on 14th august 1947.
‘At the dawn of history India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries are filled with her striving and the grandeur of her successes and her failures. Through good and ill fortune alike she has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again.’
The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?
Yes. Yes we are ready. Not all who are a Gandhi are necessarily a mahatma. We are no longer a nation of naives.
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