Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech of 2014

On the occasion of delivering his first ever Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a whole lot of important observations. While some of these had political undertones, and while many were of playing to the galleries, there were a few very pertinent points that needs to be highlighted.

‘It is the pride of Constitution that a boy from a poor family has unfurled the flag at Red fort today’. Of course, there are other examples of such a rise from a common man to a position of power – Lal Bahadur Shastri and A P J Abdul Kalam are two such names. They had humble beginnings and their rise shows that democracy always pays dividends.

‘When we hear about incidents of rape, our heads hang in shame. … I want to ask every mother and father, you ask your daughters 'where are you going, who are you going with'. But do you ever ask your sons these questions? After all, those who rape are also someone's son.’ – Another very pertinent observation but, then, the free-for-all depicted in movies is equally to blame.

‘The world used to think we are a land of snake charmers and black magic. But our youth has surprised the world with its IT skills. I dream of a digital India’. – Fine, but, even today, superstition rules supreme and reports keep surfacing of characters who prey on people in the name of God.

‘If we keep our country clean, no one can come from outside and spoil it.’ – Another very relevant issue. We love to spit pan and tobacco juices on the roads and in corners of public buildings.

‘All schools should have toilets. There should be separate toilets for schools. I urge all MPs to spend one year's funds to construct toilets’. – Yes, no one would doubt that but, the ground reality is that allotted funds are misused and find their way into pockets instead of projects.

‘It is a shame that our women have to wait for darkness to go out in the open to defecate. Can't we build toilets for the security of our women?’ – Another stark reality and no amount of imploring by celebrities will change it unless it comes from within.

The oratory powers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are next to none. He has a wonderful team of advisors who can coin appropriate phrases for any occasion at the drop of a hat. Within the past year, he has traveled to plenty of countries to spread the message of a ‘Rising India’. Let us pray and hope that a new dawn really dawns on the horizon for India.

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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