NEW DELHI: Indian President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday expressed hope that the country will be able to fully realise all the dreams of freedom fighters by 2047. In her address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day, Murmu said, “We have given a concrete shape to the vision of those who, led by Babasaheb Ambedkar, drafted the Constitution. We are already on course to build an Aatmanirbhar Bharat — India that would realise its true potential.”
She added: “While celebrating the Independence Day, the country is celebrating Bharatiyata. The works done with the spirit of ‘Nation First’ are reflected in every decision and every sector.” Hailing the country’s performance, she said every citizen should be aware of their fundamental duties and follow it in letter and spirit to take the nation to a new height of power and prosperity.
The President said the keyword for today’s India is ‘compassion’ — for the downtrodden, the needy and all those on the margins of society. “When the world has been battling the economic consequences of the great crisis, India got its act together and is now moving forward. India is among the fastest growing major economies in the world,” she said.
She added that India will realise the dreams of freedom fighters by 2047. “We will have given by 2047 a concrete shape to the vision of those who, led by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedakar, drafted the Constitution,” the President said, hailing the government’s decision to observe Nov. 15 as Janajatiya Gaurav Divas as a welcome decision.
The President said when India won independence, there were many international leaders and experts who were sceptical about the success of the democratic form of government in India due to poverty and illiteracy at that time.
“But we Indians proved the sceptics wrong. Democracy not only grew roots in this soil, it was enriched too,” she said as she asked citizens to pledge to give everything for the sake of the safety, security, progress and prosperity of the country. She also lauded India for crossing the 200-crore mark in cumulative vaccine coverage, and said India’s confidence is reflected in the spirit of its youth, its farmers and above all, its women.
Describing girls as the biggest hope for the nation, the President said that they are scaling great heights, becoming pilots and space scientists. She also called upon the countrymen for conserving water, soil and bio-diversity as part oftheir duty towards the nation and children.
“Our country is full of diversity. But at the same time, all of us have something in common. It is this common thread that binds all of us together and inspires us to walk with the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshth Bharat’,” she said. India has helped the world discover the true potential of democracy and the keyword for the country today is compassion for the downtrodden, needy and those on the margins, she added.