Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, addressed the Nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort today on the occasion of Independence Day. Following is the English rendering of the Prime Minister's address:
"My dear fellow-citizens,
Brothers, sisters and dear children,
I greet you all on this Independence Day.
Today is certainly a day of joy for us. But on this celebration of independence we also feel pain in our hearts that our brothers and sisters in Uttarakhand had to face devastation about two months back. Our deepest sympathies are with all the families that suffered loss of life or property. I want to assure the people of Uttarakhand today that the whole country stands with them in this moment of crisis. Our government is working with all the resources at its command to rehabilitate those whose houses have been destroyed and rebuild damaged infrastructure.
Our army, paramilitary forces and numerous officers and staff of the Central and State governments worked in difficult conditions in partnership with the common people to perform an outstanding task in providing relief to those who were stranded. We especially pay homage to the officers and men of the Air Force, ITBP and NDRF who sacrificed their lives to save others.
We are also deeply pained that we lost the submarine, INS Sindurakshak in an accident yesterday. Eighteen brave sailors are feared to have lost their lives. The accident is all the more painful because the Navy had recently achieved two major successes in the form of its first nuclear submarine, INS Arihant and the aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant.
We pay homage to the brave hearts we have lost. We also congratulate the Navy on its successes.
Brothers and Sisters,
There can be no place for narrow and sectarian ideologies in a modern, progressive and secular country. Such ideologies divide out society and weaken our democracy. We should prevent them from growing. We need to strengthen those traditions of our country which teach us to promote tolerance and respect for thought processes different from ours. I would appeal to all political parties, all sections of our society and the public at large to work in this direction.
Brothers and Sisters,
I had stated a few minutes back that every decade after independence has witnessed major changes in our country. We need to think today what changes we would like to see in the decade ahead.
If in the future we can achieve the same kind of progress as in the last decade, the day is not far off when India will be rid of poverty, hunger, disease and ignorance. Our India will be prosperous and all its citizens will be equal partners in this prosperity, irrespective of their religion, caste, region or language.
We will also need to build an environment of political stability, social cohesion and security for this to happen.
Let us all re-dedicate ourselves to building such an India together.
Dear children, please repeat with me thrice: Jai Hind, Jai Hind, Jai Hind."
