Former President of India : K R Narayanana

ADDRESS BY SHRI K.R. NARAYANAN, VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, ON THE OCCASION OF INDIRA GANDHI PEACE PRIZE AWARD FUNCTION

NOVEMBER 19, 1992

Respected Rashtrapatiji, Hon’ble Prime Minister, Distinguished Members of the Jury of the Indira Gandhi Prize, Hon’ble Ministers, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As I stand before you I feel the presence of two radiant figures -- not in flesh and blood but in spirit : Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Birth united them as mother and son. They were united too in the similarity of their death. But it is not by their death, however heroic it was, that they will be remembered, but by their life, which was even more heroic.

From her early years, as a lonely child in a large, famous house, to the last 20 years spent amidst the multitudes, there was an intensity about Indira Gandhi’s life, a flame like quality. It was a life dedicated to the good of the people -- not merely the people of India, of whom she was intensely proud, but the people of the entire world. Her great father, Jawaharlal Nehru had written about his own early, introspective years, that he had felt out of place everywhere and at home nowhere. Later it could rightly be said that he was at home everywhere. For Indira Gandhi, likewise, all the world, the whole earth was her home. She was influenced in forming this view by her father and by Poet Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi.

As she declared in her celebrated address to the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment at Stockholm 20 years ago, “One cannot be truly human and civilized unless one looks upon not only all fellowmen but all creation with the eyes of a friend.” But the human being had become a threatened species, threatened by poverty and malnutrition, threatened by wars in this age of destructive weaponry, and threatened, ironically, by wealth itself, because of the reckless consumption of resources fostered by prosperity.

Her vision was summed up in the words she spoke in Parliament in 1972 on the Silver Jubilee of Independence exhorting all Indians to rededicate themselves not only to the service of India but beyond to the broader goals of world peace and human welfare so that generations yet unborn can live with dignity and fulfillment as part of the great human family.

It is appropriate therefore that this prize instituted in her memory should be for work in the realms of peace, disarmament and development. It ranks, along with the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding as the highest international honour we can bestow upon anyone in recognition of contributions that advance human harmony. The Prize has gone to several dedicated world leaders. The eminent international jury which chooses the recipient has rightly selected Rajiv Gandhi for the Prize.

The years of his life and of his leadership of the country were short. But they were packed with striving and achievement and in the words of the poet:.
“ Glory of youth glowed in his soul.”

In a crowded decade he carried forward the work initiated by Jawaharlal Nehru and furthered by Indira Gandhi to fight the nation’s economic backwardness, and threw all the weight of India on the side of the cause of international friendship and peace.

I remember how thrilled I felt when he declared in his speech to the joint meeting of the U.S. Congress: “I am young and I too have a dream. I dream of an India strong, independent, self-reliant and in the front rank of the nations of the world, in the service of mankind”.

And with the self-possession and dynamism associated with his earlier profession, he endeavoured to strike out a path for India into the Twenty-First Century. He brought to bear upon the process of development a new dimension of modern science and technology. At the same time he sought to revitalize grass-root institutions and harness the power of the people behind his developmental programmes. He also prepared the ground for the momentous policy of economic liberalisation that we have boldly embarked upon to-day. I may recall here what he declared in his first major broadcast as Prime Minister: “We must have the courage boldly to innovate, for change is demanded in our methods of work, in the absorption of new knowledge, in the values we generate for ensuring a meaningful and creative life for our people.” He had that courage in full measure to innovate and change.

In the same broadcast he also pointed out that : “For nation building the first requisite is Peace Peace with our neighbours and peace in the world.” He tried sincerely to improve relations with Pakistan and to put some life into SAARC. Support to African causes, especially independence for Namibia, the AFRICA Fund and dismantling of apartheid received special attention at his hands. His efforts to effect a breakthrough in Sino-Indian relations stand out as a landmark in our foreign policy.

Rajiv Gandhi vowed to continue India’s relentless crusade against the arms race. He spoke later of the need to keep the outer space free of weapons as well as strengthen the defences of peace in man’s inner space. In the United Nations, he declared : “Let man’s creative genius be enlisted on behalf of enrichment, not destruction.” The proposals he presented to the United Nations in June 1988 was one of the most comprehensive and realistic nuclear disarmament plans. And it remains a practical and noble-minded blue-print for a “nuclear-free and non-violent world.” In this and other things Rajiv Gandhi proved himself to be one of the world’s most dynamic and innovative champions of peace. Above all, he was a born leader and a wonderful human being. Those who have chosen him for this honour have done so in the assurance that there are human qualities and values which endure beyond the tragedy of death.

May I now call upon the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust to read the citation of the Award, and request Rashtrapatiji to hand over to Smt. Sonia Gandhi the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development awarded posthumously to Shri Rajiv Gandhi.

Thank you

Jai Hind

^Top