ADDRESS
TO THE NATION BY SHRI K.R. NARAYANAN, THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA, ON THE EVE
OF REPUBLIC DAY-1998
JANUARY 25, 1998
Fellow
Citizens, It is with pride and pleasure that I join you in the celebrations
of our Republic Day. It falls within the year of the Golden Jubilee of
our Independence. On this doubly auspicious occasion I extend my warm
greetings to all fellow-citizens in India and abroad and to our defence
forces guarding the integrity and security of our country. Republic Day
is more than a national day; it is the anniversary of a defining moment
in our history. It was on this day in January 1930 that the Indian National
Congress meeting on the banks of river Ravi declared that "the goal of
India was Poorna Swaraj, that it was the right of every Indian, as of
any other people, to have freedom", and that "if any government deprives
a people of their rights and oppresses them, the people will have the
further right to alter it or to abolish it." It was on the same day in
January, 1950, that we gave to ourselves a Constitution. Among the foremost
of the goals we set before ourselves were our unity as a nation and a
people, and their journey towards an egalitarian order.
From the Upanishadic
idea of the world as a single family to our struggles for independence,
for nation-building, and for world co-operation, India was preoccupied
with the concept of unity. This urge for unity was as much a product of
our philosophical and humanistic thinking as a response to the challenge
of the wildly pluralistic nature of our society. We know that this unity
in diversity is the secret of our viability as a nation and our strength;
the binding force of our age-old culture, the long tradition of our tolerance,
the net-work of socio-economic bonds that we have built up among our people,
and above all our vibrant democracy, have made the unity of India unassailable.
And yet there is our historic tendency to quarrel among ourselves. In
the midst of these differences and quarrels we should not forget to nurture
and strengthen the unity, integrity and security of the nation. The sagacious
words of Bhishma in the Shanti Parva of "Mahabharata" we must pay heed
to seriously. "Leaders of the republic should unitedly pursue the interests
of the republic as a whole, otherwise discord among them leads to emergence
of numerous antagonistic groups, which disrupt its functioning, leading
to disastrous consequences. " The unity of a country also is the combined
outcome of political, social, and economic development, and of a sense
of fairness and justice pervading the body-politic as a whole.
The State
should deliver the goods to the people and meet their established and
rising expectations. We have registered some notable successes in this
respect. At Independence our agriculture was at subsistence levels and
our industrial development was rudimentary. Thanks to eight five year
plans, six years of economic reforms and the harnessing of science and
technology for economic development, India has made a great deal of progress
on all fronts. Slowly but surely our economy is being transformed, real
incomes are rising, life expectancy has doubled and poverty has declined.
During the Eighth Five Year Plan economic growth accelerated to attain
an average of 6.5 per cent per year, the highest achieved during any five
year plan period. Despite the unprecedented financial and economic crisis
in neighbouring countries of East Asia, the Indian economy has continued
to perform well and the external sector has remained resilient, partly
due to the indigenous prudence we have exercised in the execution of our
liberalization programmes.
In spite of the Green Revolution it is an unfortunate
fact that hunger and malnutrition persist in our rural as well as urban
areas. There is the need now to go beyond the Green Revolution and bring
about a nutritional revolution in the country. The food and nutritional
needs of the poor in India especially of children and women must be tackled.
Besides, on this anniversary of our Republic we must resolve to complete
the unfinished task of land reforms that we embarked upon years ago and
empower the landless poor and small farmers who have not got any benefits
from the Green Revolution. Much of the poverty and unrest in rural India
-- the caste conflicts and the economic violence -- can be traced to the
gross injustice in the distribution of land and to some kind of a counter-revolution
that is taking place holding up the implementation of land reforms and
the snatching away of whatever benefits progressive legislations had bestowed
upon the poor. As a people we are generally prone to take delight in de-bunking
our achievements and successes.
That is not an altogether negative fact.
But on an occasion such as this we must count our blessings and celebrate
our successes. We must also squarely face up to our failures and shortcomings.
One often hears people asking why it is that after 50 years of independence,
there are in India the largest number of people living below the poverty
line. And that in the midst of plenty and wasteful conspicuous consumption
among sections of our society. Indeed the idea of austerity and the word
itself has disappeared from our vocabulary. As regards literacy, is it
not a shame that in this land known for its traditions of philosophy,
scholarship and intellectualism, there exist the largest number of illiterates
in the world? To find an answer to these ironies we must look at our society
with open and penetrating eyes. Ours is a society divided vertically and
horizontally in innumerable compartments. Economic development, technological
changes, social reform movements have not succeeded in pulling down these
domestic walls, even though they have been considerably lowered, and benefits
of development do not flow from one compartment to another.
The result
is uneven development and existence of plenty and poverty, change and
stagnation almost side by side. How can we tolerate indefinitely these
dangerous dichotomies and inequalities? We are witnessing to-day uncontrolled
growth of communalism and casteism snuffing out the lights of secularism
in our society, and the increase in corruption, violence and criminalisation
of politics and society. The State and the Government have the responsibility
of dealing with these dark forces threatening the fabric of our society
and our cherished values. But people themselves have a responsibility
and a role to play. In 1947 when Mahatma Gandhi decided to go on a fast
in the face of the communal carnage in Calcutta, a distinguished leader
wrote to him trying to dissuade him from taking the step. He asked "Can
you fast against goondas?". Gandhiji's reply was revealing: "It is we
who make the goondas. Without our sympathy and passive support goondas
will have no leg to stand upon. I want to reach the hearts of the people
behind the goondas." In the situation obtaining to-day the people have
the right, the duty and the opportunity to dissociate themselves from
individuals and groups who propagate and indulge in corruption, violence,
and crimes against society. They must not give them passive support, as
Gandhiji advised, and shun and isolate them in society.
Together with
governmental action this would produce results. In this context we can
take a lesson from our experience of fighting terrorism in Punjab, Assam
and Kashmir. The people tired of violence and insecurity dared to break
out of the mystique of fear of the terrorist and asserted their will for
normal life. This was followed by democratic elections which acted as
some sort of a social and political therapy. The essential element in
all this was the attitude of the people. We have to mobilise ourselves
and harness our energies against the forces of violence, corruption, communalism
and casteism. And we will have to release the energies of women, scheduled
castes, tribes, backward classes and minorities. The social, economic
and political empowerment of women is a pre-requisite to the revitalisation
of our development and democratic processes. My fellow-citizens, in a
few days we will be observing the martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi. This kind
of collective action is the least that we can do in memory of his great
sacrifice. And within a couple of weeks the nation will go to polls in
the largest democratic elections in the world involving an electorate
of 600 million people.
I have no doubt that under the vigilant eye of
the Election Commission of India we will have free and fair elections
in which the people could express their sovereign will. Fellow-citizens,
while we are engrossed in our own concerns and problems, we cannot forget
that we live in a world and in a neighbourhood. We can take pride that
we are regarded in the world as a mature and a vibrant democracy, and
a country that is forging ahead into the 21st century as a considerable
economic and industrial power. In the past we have given to the world
great ideas and philosophies. After Independence we have had the privilege
of initiating the policy of non-alignment and we have worked for peace
in the world with sincerity and passion. To-day in co-operation with the
peoples of the world, particularly the non-aligned and developing countries,
we are working for a just, equitable and peaceful world order. We have
extended our hands of co-operation and friendship to our close neighbours.
Our destiny is linked with their destiny. And we stand for friendship
with all nations and pursue our objectives of peace, disarmament and development.
On the occasion of our Republic Day we send our greetings to all the nations
of the world. And to my sisters and brothers and to the youth of this
great country I convey my good wishes for the Republic Day. May the flag
that will be unfurled to-morrow on State buildings and atop millions of
homes inspire us to work for peace and prosperity that is shared by all
in this motherland of ours.
Thank you
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