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End divisions : Prime Minister’s advice on Independence Day

	August 21, 2006

India celebrated its 60th Independence Day on August 15 in the midst of tight security in view of terrorist plans to destabilise the nation. The highlight of the celebrations was the Prime Minister’s address from the ramparts of the Red Fort where he called for a new kind of politics that shuns divisiveness so that the country can progress to new frontiers.



Dr. Manmohan Singh also said that Pakistan must take concrete steps to implement its solemn assurance to prevent cross-border terrorism against India from territories under its control if the dialogue process is to move forward in an atmosphere of peace. He said all countries in the region must recognise that terrorism anywhere is a threat to peace and prosperity everywhere.



“We need a politics that will propel us forward. We need a politics that will guide us to new frontiers, take us to new horizons. I urge all our political leaders to think deeply about the future of our country. We must shun the politics of divisiveness and adopt the politics of change and progress.”



Dr. Singh, who unfurled the Tricolour before the address, invited all citizens to build a new India - “An India that is united in thought, not divided by religion and language; an India that is united in our Indianness, not divided by caste and religions; an India that is united in seeking new opportunities for growth, not divided by disparities; an India that is caring and inclusive.”



While noting the impressive growth of the economy at eight per cent for the third successive year and paying tribute to “a reassuring confidence in our industry in being able to take on the challenge of the rest of the world,” the Prime Minister prescribed economic growth as the only way to tackle poverty and unemployment.



But, Dr. Singh noted, “vast segments of our people are untouched by modernisation” and “they continue to suffer from iniquitous social orders.”



He specially mentioned the havoc the rise in international prices of crude oil was causing at home, and how the Government was subsidising consumption of petroleum products.



On the Reservation issue, he said his Government was “committed to providing reservation in educational institutions for students from socially backward sections of society. We will do so, while simultaneously expanding educational opportunities for all youth.”



Referring to the challenges to internal security, he said terrorists were out to disrupt “our economic progress and provoke communal incidents but our strength lies in our unity. We will not allow the secular fabric of our country to be broken.”



At the same time, he promised, “We will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that terrorist elements in India are neutralised and smashed.”



The Prime Minister warned those who used terror as a strategy against India: “Let those who want to hurt us by inflicting a thousand cuts remember - no one can break our will, or unity. No one can make India kn eel.”



While expressing his desire to seek peace with Pakistan, he said: “It is obvious that unless Pakistan takes concrete steps to implement the solemn assurances it has given to prevent cross-border terrorism against India from any territory within its control, public opinion in India, which has supported the peace process, will be undermined.”



The Prime Minister asked the insurgents in the northeast and Naxalites to realise “power will never flow from the barrel of a gun. Real power flows from the ballot box.”





Reactions



There has been a mixed reaction to the Prime Minister’s I. Day speech. While Congress president Sonia Gandhi heaped praise on the Prime Minister for his Independence Day speech calling it, “very inspiring and forceful,” the Left, which is supporting the Government from outside, said it failed to inspire confidence that India would continue to follow an independent foreign policy. The opposition BJP criticised the speech for not being forceful on terror and corruption.



Sonia Gandhi, generous in her praise for the Prime Minister, said : “The Prime Minister has delivered a very inspiring and forceful speech. He exhorted us all to work in unity for our country and that is what we all are committed to.” Her covert support for the Prime Minister comes in the context of critics claiming a lack of coordination between the Government and the Congress.



However, the Congress president’s comments could not be more different from the Left’s take on the speech. “The Prime Minister has failed to inspire confidence that India shall relentlessly pursue an independent foreign policy”, CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said in the party mouthpiece People’s Democracy.



On economic issues mentioned in the Prime Minister’s speech, Yechury said his concerns were laudable, but it did not have the backing of assurances to ensure that the needy would benefit.



Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani, whose party BJP, advocates reintroduction of a POTA type law in the country, said that he was not satisfied with the Prime Minister’s response to terrorism. “The speech was lacking in addressing the issues of corruption and terrorism.”





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PM writes his own speech



Dr. Manmohan Singh became the second Prime Minister in the country to write his own speech for Independence Day. Till now, Jawaharlal Nehru was the only Prime Minister who scripted his own Independence Day speech. While 50 odd departments sent their inputs for the Prime Minister’s Independence Day speech “as part of an annual routine,” Manmohan Singh cast them aside. Instead, he framed his own speech. He worked on “every word” to present a “big picture” to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort.



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On the sidelines of the Independence Day ‘at home’ hosted at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Dr. Manmohan Singh had an unscheduled 15-minute one-to-one meeting with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. This was ostensibly to discuss issues of national importance. Rashtrapati Bhavan officials said, “the Prime Minister briefed the President on his forthcoming visits to Cuba and Brazil.” Observers say they might also have discussed the Office of Profit Bill which the President signed later in the week.





President Kalam calls for national approach to tackle terror



In his address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam called for a national approach to eradicate terrorism in all forms to provide security for the people. He said the constant threat of low intensity proxy war and terrorism have become disturbing features of national life and the new face of war.



Commending a three-phased approach to comprehensive security, the President suggested to Government and Parliament to formulate a Citizens Security Bill with a national campaign for eradication of terrorism, formulate an energy independence bill and adopt a resolution that India will be transformed into a safe, prosperous, happy and socio-economically developed nation before 2020.



Speaking in Chandigarh on Thursday, August 17, while dedicating to the nation the war memorial in the city, President Kalam exhorted the people to work with greater unity, determination and vision to make India and all its states, not only rich and prosperous, but also invulnerable to invasion from across its borders and to aggression from space. The Chandigarh War Memorial has been built through a citizens’ initiative led by the Indian Express group of newspapers to honour 8500 martyrs belonging to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.