The day of the Prime Minister

August 15, 1947 Jawaharlal Nehru

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THE APPOINTED DAY has come—the day appointed by destiny—and India stands forth again, after long slumber

and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent. The past clings on to us still in some measure and we have to do much before we redeem the pledges we have so often taken. Yet the turning point is past, and history begins anew for us, the history which we shall live and act and others will write about.

It is a fateful moment for us in India, for all Asia and for the world. A new star rises, the star of freedom in the East, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materialises. May the star never set and that hope never be betrayed! We rejoice in that freedom, even though clouds surround us, and many of our people are sorrow-stricken and difficult problems encompass us. But freedom brings responsibilities and burdens and we have to face them in the spirit of a free and disciplined people.

On this day our first thoughts go to the architect of this freedom, the Father of our Nation, who, embodying the old spirit of India, held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us. We have often been un-worthy followers of his and have strayed from his message, but not only we but succeeding generations will remember this message and bear the imprint in their hearts of this great son of India, mangnificent in his faith and strength and courage and humility. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest.

Our next thoughts must be of the unknown volunteers and soldiers of freedom who, without praise or reward, have served India even unto death.

We think also of our brothers and sisters who have been cut off from us by political boundaries and who unhappily cannot share at present in the freedom that has come. They are of us and will remain of us whatever may happen, and we shall be sharers in their good or ill fortune alike.

The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.

We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be. We are citizens of a great country, on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action. To the nations and peoples of the world we send greetings and pledge ourselves to co-operate with them in furthering peace, freedom and democracy. And to India, our much-loved motherland, the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new, we pay our reverent homage and we bind ourselves afresh to her service. 

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Fellow countrymen, has been my privilege to serve India and the cause of India's freedom for many years. .Today I address you for the first time officially as the First Servant of the Indian people, pledged to their service and their betterment. I am here because you willed it so and I remain here so long as you choose to honour me with your confidence.

We are a free and sovereign people today and we have rid ourselves of the burden of the past. We look at the world with clear and friendly eyes and at the future with faith and confidence. The burden of foreign domination is done away with, but freedom brings its own responsibilities and burdens, and they can only be shouldered in the spirit of a free people, self-disciplined and determined to preserve and enlarge that freedom.

We have achieved much; we have to achieve much more. Let us then address ourselves to our new tasks with the determination and adherence to high principles which our great leader has taught us. Gandhiji is fortunately with us to guide and inspire and ever to point to us the path of high endeavour. He taught us long ago that ideals and objectives can never be divorced from the methods adopted to realise them; that worthy ends can only be achieved through worthy means. If we aim at the big things of life, if we dream of India as a great nation giving her age-old message of peace and freedom to others, then we have to be big ourselves and be worthy children of Mother India. The eyes of the world are upon us watching this birth of freedom in the East and wondering what it means.

Our first and immediate objective must be to put an end to all internal strife and violence, which disfigure and degrade us and injure the cause of freedom. They come in the way of consideration of the great economic problems of the masses of the people which so urgently demand attention. I should like to address a few words to our services, civil and military. The old distinction and differences are gone today we are all free sons and daughters of India, proud of our country's freedom and joining together in our service to her. Our common allegiance is to India. In the difficult years ahead our Services and our experts have a vital role to play and we invite them to do so as comrades in the service of India. 

August 14-15 1972 Indira Gandhi

We have gathered from all parts of the country to live again a moment of history when, out of the long gloom of feudalism and foreign rule, India awoke to freedom and democracy. We have come to remember with gratitude the long succession of those who have gone before us. The Father of the Nation reinterpreted our ancient values and traditions and transformed ideals that seemed unattainable into powerful instruments of political action. His message reached out to village and town, inspired the educated, brought understanding to the simplest and awakened long supressed aspirations.

Our movement was a non-violent one. It released unthought of qualities in our people and revealed the many faces of courage. By participating in a cause larger than himself, every Indian grew in stature. Some groups followed the more familiar path of armed confrontation. Many were the instances of individual daring and self-sacrifice. I recall also the work of the Indian National Army away from our shores.

My mind goes still futher back, beyond personal memory, to the great rising of 1857. The immediate cause does not matter. Perhaps deep in the subconscious, underlying entiments of caste and relision was another stirring, the search for identity.

It was a remarkable century. the darkness of oppression was illumined by great intellects. Men of religion were also revolutionaries. Poets, scientists, indeed people of all professions, were one in a great objective — the resurgence of the nation.

Ultimately, success was achieved by the countless men and women, unknown and unsung who served our cause b their numbers no less than their dedication. What was our strength? Oppressed and humiliated as we were, our leaders raised us above fear and hate. Transcending all hardship, we focussed our gaze on a vision of the future. We had faith that a people who moved with dignity and courage could not be cowed; that India awakened could never again be subdued.

We have always believed that freedom is indivisible. We have been in touch with movements for liberation everywhere and have contributed to them. Today we reaffirm our solidarity with the many Asian and African countries which became free with us or soon after, the latest of whom is Bangla Desh, and with all those who are still struggling for freedom or development.

At the moment of Independence, our energies turned from the tension of struggle to the immediate problems of partition and the vast new responsibilities which we had assumed. That night, Jawaharlal Nehru said in a mood of prophesy: “The future is not one of ease or resting bt of incessant striving so that we may fulfil the pledges that have so often taken.” A quarter of a century has since elapsed, during which we have had our share of failure and success, of tragedy and triumph. And yet we can take pride in the undeniable fact that despite the long sequence of challenges, we are today stronger — politically, economically, and socially. Our national unity, democracy, secularism and socialism remain strong and firm.

Our quest has been friendship with all, submission to none. Our fight was not for ourselves alone but for all mankind. Nor was it merely for political independence in its narrow sense. We were determined to change the old order, to eradicate poverty, to emancipate society from rigid stratification, evil customs and superstition.

The struggle for freedom began when the first man was enslaved and it will continue until the last man is freed not merely of visible bondage but the concepts of inferiority due to race, colour, caste or sex. Only those who are free in spirit can be the torchbearers of freedom and pioneers of the future.

The greatness for which we strive is not the arrogance of military power or the avarice of economic exploitation. It is the true greatness of the spirit which India has cherished through the millennia. Man in the nuclear age stands at a crucial crossroads in his destiny. Let us rededicate ourselves not only to the service of India and her great people, but beyond the broader goals of world peace and human welfare so that generations yet unborn can live with dignity and fulfilment, as part of the great world family.

August 15, 1999 Atal Bihari Vajpayee 

Sisters, Brothers and Dear Children, accept my greetings on the sacred occasion of Independence Day. This is a day of hallowed remembrance for us. This is a day of dedication for us. This year’s Independence Day has special significance for all of us. The present century is coming to an end. The world will have entered the next century by the time of the next Independence Day.

We pay our homage to those self-sacrificing and devoted leaders and patriots who struggled for freedom throughout their lives, and, when necessary, even laid down their lives as aahuti (offering) in the great yagya of freedom.

Come, all my countrymen, let us strive to become worthy heirs to those great leaders. We dedicate today’s sacred day to their memory.

In the same way, I offer my condolences to the valiant jawans, officers and others belonging to the Army and the Air Force, who displayed magnificent heroism and the spirit of sacrifice in recapturing that part of our Motherland in Kargil from the enemy. All of us bow our heads in gratitude for those who were martyred in the Kargil war.

Almost all our countrymen have seen on television glimpses of the impossible summits, which our heroes overcame and pushed out the enemy. To gain victory at such heights is not only to surmount the sky-piercing peaks, it displays the full might of the nation. It is a symbol of the bravery of our Armed Forces.

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We need peace in order to raise the standard of living of the people in both countries. For peace, we need trust. Has trust increased on account of all that happened in Kargil, Does the path of armed intrusion lead to friendship?

All of us want peace. People are worried about the future of their children.

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Throughout the war in Kargil, I was specially satisfied by two features.

There was no communal tension anywhere in the country. Goodwill and brotherhood prevailed everywhere, including in Jammu and Kashmir. This must have despaired those who thought that riots would break out in India as soon as the spark of war is lit. Those who hatched the conspiracy of strife, must have been truly disillusioned. The people of all sections of society worked for India’s success in the war. A powerful wave of patriotism traveled everywhere. 

When I went to Kargil and met our jawans, I saw our entire country there: soldiers from Nagaland, from Assam, from Tamil Nadu, from almost every state were fighting for the country. There was not the slightest distance between them on account of caste or religion or region. 

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Kargil has once again shown that whenever our patriotism is aroused, all of us stand as one with full confidence and determination, as a fist clenched in conviction. We face our challenges unitedly. Our adversaries should be beware of this.

At the same time, there is an equally important lesson for us. Now that the crisis has been beaten back, do not unclench this fist of unity.

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All of us remember the talisman Gandhiji gave us: when in doubt about what to do, he taught us, think of the least, of the most helpless man you have seen, ask yourself, “Will this step be in his interest?” he said, and you will see all your doubts melt away.