Unity Of Minds

Following is the full text of the President's address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day.

My dear citizens of India,

On the eve of the 55th anniversary of our Independence, I have great pleasurein offering you my best wishes for your well-being and happiness. My salutationsto all of you both in India and abroad.

May I extend a special word of gratitude to the men of our defence who guardour frontiers on the land, on the sea and in the air and paramilitary forces.May I also convey my special appreciation to our farmers who toil on the fields,technicians who keep the wheels of our industry moving, teachers who createknowledge products to the society and doctors, engineers, scientists,technologists and other professionals and administrators who are the primemovers of national development. May I wish the youth of India whose purposefulhard work with sweat will be a major transforming force for prosperous India.

I met some of the freedom fighters a few days ago at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.Each and every one of them was the live force for our freedom movement. On thisday, I salute all men and women of India who fought for our freedom andsacrificed their lives to achieve our Independence. Seeding a great vision andan indomitable spirit to achieve India's freedom took place around 1857. For 90years, there were a number of intensive struggles for freedom. Many of ourpeople and leaders were in jail and their sufferings got transformed intofreedom movement, with national ethos under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. Ihave tried to capture the essence of the freedom movement. Two aspects have comeout: as a result of supreme sacrifices and dedicated and focused efforts, we gotour Independence. The second aspect is that the vision driven movement itselfcreated many leaders in different spheres of politics, economics, industry,science, arts and culture.

After Independence, India has made significant achievements in agricultureand food production, energy, healthcare, education and various fields of scienceand technology. Particularly we have made our mark in the international arena inthe fields of pharmaceuticals, information technology, mass media andcommunication, space, defence and nuclear science.

Similar to the first vision, which created a movement to achieve freedom withunity of minds of our people and the unity of purpose in actions, we need asecond vision, which will integrate people from all walks of our society towardsa common purpose. The second vision of our nation is to transform it from thepresent developing status to a developed nation by integrated actionssimultaneously in the areas of agriculture and food processing, education andhealthcare, infrastructure development including power, information andcommunication technologies, and critical technologies. This greater vision willaim to alleviate poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. When the minds of thepeople of our country are unified and fused towards this vision, the dormantpotential will manifest as a mammoth power leading to a happy and prosperouslife of a billion people. This vision of the nation will also remove theconflicts arising out of differences and small thinking.

Dear citizens, I would like to reiterate that Jammu and Kashmir is anintegral part of India. It is not an international issue. India is ready forbilateral dialogue once the cross border terrorism is brought to a complete end.Normal election process is on in Jammu and Kashmir. It is essential to ensureits successful completion and dawn of peace in Jammu and Kashmir.

We also have many challenges in front of us. We have to find a solution tothe repeated droughts and floods; we have to eradicate communal and otherdivisive clashes sprouting in certain parts and remove the pains of our peoplewhether it is in Jammu and Kashmir or in any other part of our country; we alsohave to find a permanent solution to combat terrorism.

Let us now look at a long-term problem. It is paradoxical to see floods inone part of our country while some other parts face drought. This drought -flood phenomenon is a recurring feature. The need of the hour is to have a watermission which will enable availability of water to the fields, villages, townsand industries throughout the year, even while maintaining environmental purity.One major part of the water mission would be networking of our rivers.Technological and project management capabilities of our country can rise to theoccasion and make this river networking a reality with long term planning andproper investment. In addition, the vast sea around us can help by providingpotable water through desalination as a cost effective technology. There are ofcourse short term techniques such as water harvesting by revitalizing ruralponds, water recycling to water conservation. Such programmes should have alarge scale people participation even at the conceptual and project planningstages. The entire programme should revolve around economic viability leading tocontinued prosperity for our people with larger employment potential,environmental sustainability, grass root level motivation and benefit sharing.

I would now like to share with you friends, another crucial requirement andnecessity for our country. We cannot sustain a second vision for the countrywithout Unity of Minds of all our people. Our great strength is our pluralistictradition and civilisational heritage of nearly 3000 years. I have always beenasking myself what the strength of our heritage is. A unique fusion has takenplace with multiple cultures, religions and the way of life of many parts of theworld and that has become the foundation of the Indian life. One can trace from1857 to date, the type of good experiences we have had and also the striferesulting out of the differences in thoughts.

I have just now returned from Gujarat after interactions with various crosssections of people, leaders, officials and rehabilitation workers in the areasaffected by recent disturbances and earthquake. I also visited the SabarmatiAshram which was established by Mahatma Gandhi for the purpose of our countrymento carry on the search for truth and develop fearlessness. I sat in silence fora while in the Ashram and remembered the life of Gandhiji. One dominant thoughtcame to my mind. If we can go above our own personal hardships and see theproblems of others and decide to work for a larger cause, then there is naturalelevation of our minds. When we are lax in this, then our level of thinking goesdown. I felt confident that all of us can be elevated to the level of nobleminds, if we just decide to understand others and to practice tolerance. Irealized that Gujarat has given the noble leader - Mahatma Gandhi, unifier ofthe nation - Vallabhbhai Patel and the great visionary in science and technology- Vikram Sarabhai and many more. Time has come for every one of us to put thethoughts of these great souls into action for nation's welfare.

Non-violence, tolerance, acceptance of all religions and different ways oflife, search for truth and fearlessness are the values the Mahatma taught us andthey are the cornerstones of our civilisational heritage and, therefore, ofIndian polity. Any act by anyone anywhere in India that runs counter to theseeternal values would pose a threat to the fabric of free Indian nation which wasborn and nurtured by the supreme sacrifices of countless noble souls. We shouldall work together to achieve the mission for Unity of Minds to preserve what weso preciously earned and reach greater heights in the future.

When I interact with school children and youth, wherever I go, one questioncomes often. They ask me "who are our role models?" Parents andteachers have to show them by example to live as enlightened citizens. Childrenalso look for role models at national level in different fields. I havedescribed earlier the role models from Gujarat. Each state of our country hasmany such examples of the past. It is now time we create more role models fromthe present. I suggest that members of our Parliament and Legislatures can shapethe future of our children by becoming good role models. Parliament andLegislatures have a crucial role in giving the vision of developed India andvalue based polity. Our children should see the members of the Parliamentdebating the vision of developed India, providing action plans and putting forthgreat thoughts and challenges to them. Looking at the national leaders, thechildren will find their role models for their development and growth.

I am sure, our leadership and our people can achieve the second vision ofdeveloped India. Let us take a vow on this Independence Day that the nation ismore important compared to any individual, party or organisation.

I pray to the Almighty for Unity of Minds and our success in every aspect oflife.

‘Jai Hind’