Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that the next 25 years are important for getting back what our society lost in hundreds of years of slavery.
While delivering a keynote address at the national launch ceremony of “Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav se Swarnim Bharat Ke Ore”, the Prime Minister said, “This time of Amrit Kaal is not for dreaming while sleeping, but for fulfilling resolutions by waking up. Coming 25 years are the culmination of hard work, sacrifice and austerity. This is a period of 25 years to get back what our society has lost in hundreds of years of slavery.” To build a “golden future”, the Prime Minister said, “we have to give our everything.”
On the occasion of Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav commemorating 75 years of India’s independence, the Prime Minister said: “Our focus should be on the future.”
The Prime Minister said that it needs to be admitted that in the 75 years after Independence the evil of ignoring duties and not keeping them paramount has entered the national life. He noted that during this period, we only spent time talking and fighting about rights.
He stressed that talk of rights, to some extent, may be correct, in some circumstances but forgetting one’s duties completely has played a major role in keeping India weak. The Prime Minister urged everyone to “light a lamp in the heart of every citizen of the country—the lamp of duty. Together, we will take the country forward on the path of duty, then the evils prevailing in the society will also be removed and the country will reach new heights”.
The Prime Minister regretted the tendency to tarnish the image of India, even at the international level.
“We cannot get away from this by saying that this is just politics. This is not politics, this is the question of our country. today, when we are celebrating the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is also our responsibility that the world should know India properly”, he emphasised.
PM Modi said that the progress of the people lies in the progress of the nation itself.
“Today crores of Indians are putting the foundation stone of Swarnim Bharat. Our dreams and the country’s dreams are not different. Our personal and country’s achievements are not different. Our progress lies in the progress of the nation,” the Prime Minister said, adding: “The nation exists from us, and we exist from the nation. This realization is becoming the biggest strength of Indians in the making of a new India.”
“Today, we are building a society that does not have room for discrimination. We are building a society that stands firmly on the foundation of equality and social justice. We are witnessing the rise of a New India whose thinking and approach is new,” he said.
Highlighting the progress of the nation, the Prime Minister said that, today, “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas” is becoming the essence of the country. “India’s largest power is to continue to rise and march ahead despite the darkest of times we have faced in our glorious history,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister also said that with Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav Se Swarnim Bharat Ke Ore, today we are starting a very important event for the country.
The program unveiled yearlong initiatives dedicated to Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav by the Brahma Kumaris, which include more than 30 campaigns and over 15,000 programs and events.
PM Modi recalled the role of women in India’s freedom struggle and said several women have given their sacrifices for the nation. “When the world was engulfed in the darkness of negativities, caught in the old adage thinking about women, then India used to worship Mother Shakti in the form of Goddess. We have scholars like Gargi, Maitreyi, Anusuya, Arundhati and Madalsa who used to give knowledge to society,” said the Prime Minister.
“Even in the troubled medieval times, there were great women like Pannadhay and Mira Bai in this country. And in the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the country is remembering the history of freedom struggle, in which many women have given their sacrifices for the nation,” said PM Modi.
“From Kittur’s Rani Chennamma, Matangini Hazra, Rani Lakshmibai, Veerangana Jhalkari Bai to Ahalyabai Holkar and Savitribai Phule in the social sphere, these goddesses maintained India’s identity,” he said.
The Prime Minister said, “We have to keep our culture, our civilization, our values alive, to preserve and promote our spirituality, our diversity. And at the same time, the systems of technology, infrastructure, education, health have to be continuously modernized.”