73rd Independence Day – Director’s Speech
Respected Prof. (Dr.) O. P. Shukla Sb, Principal
NDA, Respected Dr. Geoffrey Clements, Chairman, Commonwealth Infrastructure
Partner, My Colleague Prof. (Dr.) Ravi Kr. Jain, Director, SIBM-Hyderabad, my
colleagues – faculty members and administrative staffs, and dear students, a
very warm greetings to everyone present here to celebrate 73rd
Independence Day with full spirits.
Sare
Jahan Se Acha Hindustan Hamara
Hum
Bulbulen hain Uski Ye Gulstan hamara
It is my immense
pleasure to stand here in front of you all and deliver my address for today. We as
Indians have come a long way as we
complete 72 years of our Independence from the British rule. It
is important that we always cherish this great day remembering our freedom
fighters’ struggle. Without them, it is impossible for each and every
one of us to experience the joy of living in a free country. Therefore, let us not forget the sacrifices of our leaders. Moreover, it is very crucial to remember that the Indian
freedom struggle was based on the principles of non-violence movement, taught
by the great spiritual leader and the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
When the Britishers
left us, we were hollow and ripped off our wealth. We did not have a foundation
to firmly stand by ourselves as a country. We did everything from scratch
whether it was creating the constitutional framework, or granting rights or
drafting laws. Now we are
counted amongst the list of world’s biggest democratic nations.
Constitution’s
preamble prescribed for India which will ensure – Justice, Liberty, Equality
and Fraternity. While we have achieved enormously in last 72 years, there is still a long way to go.
It’s times to
introspect. The victims of mass atrocities whether that happened in Kashmir to
Kashmir pundits, or to Punjabis during 80s or to Muslims in innumerable riots
including Gujarat or incident such as mob lynching where just this week all the
perpetrators got acquittal; victims are waiting for justice.
Liberty, Equality and Fraternity –
again we need to introspect ourself how much we have achieved and what is
lacking. With the year 2020 around its corner,
we as citizens need to ponder vision of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s. With many great
objectives for development of India, he emphasized on reducing the rural-urban
divide, equitable distribution of resources, education with good value system,
corruption free country, etc. As students of law, you must go through his
vision and see how far we have come as a country. Because, freedom without
responsibilities to work towards excellence is futile.
Remember,
when I talked about mass atrocities it is non-state actors who are involve. How
we can develop a society where such situation will never arises. The answer is
lying in the fulfilment of our “Fundamental duties”.
Therefore, it becomes
extremely crucial to realize our fundamental duties particularly article 51 A –
clause j that states “to strive towards excellence in all spheres of
individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to
higher levels of endeavour and achievement” It’s you, the youth, backbone
of our country, who will bring positive changes and take our country to reach new
heights of growth and prosperity.
History is testimony that we one of the world’s
largest democracy have faced difficult questions time and again. However, the
same history is also a proof to us that we have come out of it as we held on to
our belief in ‘Unity in Diversity’. So, let us come together to celebrate our
victories and resolve to work on ourselves in making our country better.
Jai Hind, Jai Hind, Jai Hind
