Sunday, January 25, 2009

Independence Day - 15th August 2008

Dear Elders, Office bearers, EC Members & Members of SR Nagar Welfare Association,

Wishes and Greetings to you all in the wake of the 61st Independence Day.

We all know that
India's Independence Day is celebrated on August 15 every year to commemorate the independence from the British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation on that day in 1947. It is celebrated all over the country through flag-hoisting ceremony and distribution of sweets. The main celebration takes place in New Delhi, where the Prime Minister hoists the National Flag at the Red Fort and delivers a nationally televised speech from its ramparts. The Prime Minister also pays his tribute to leaders of the freedom struggle. In every state and territory of the Indian Union, the Chief Minister concerned will hoist the National Flag.

We need to remember that
On 3 June 1947, Viscount Lord Louis Mount batten, the last British Governor-General of India, announced the partitioning of the British Indian Empire into India and Pakistan, under the provisions of the Indian Independence Act 1947. At the stroke of midnight, on 15 August 1947, India became an independent nation. This was preceded by Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru's famous speech titled Tryst with destiny.

Quote
“At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again.”
Unquote

The then Prime Minister Nehru and Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel invited Lord Mount batten to continue as Governor General of India. He was replaced in June 1948 by Chakravarti Rajgopalachari. Patel took on the responsibility of unifying 565 princely states, steering efforts by his “iron fist in a velvet glove” policies, exemplified by the use of military force to integrate Junagadh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Hyderabad state into India.

We also need to remember that
The Constituent Assembly completed the work of drafting the constitution on 26 November 1949; on 26 January 1950 the Republic of India was officially proclaimed. The Constituent Assembly elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India, taking over from Governor General Rajgopalachari. Subsequently, a free and sovereign India absorbed two other territories: Goa (liberated from Portuguese control in 1961) and Pondicherry (which the French ceded in 1954). In 1952, India held its first general elections, with a voter turnout exceeding 62%; in practice, this made India the world's largest democratic country in the history of the modern and ancient world.

In celebrating Independence Day, normally the Offices are lit up in the wake and on the eve of 15th Aug with Flag hoisting ceremonies and cultural programs in all the state capitals. In the cities, towns and villages around the country people’s representatives belonging to that area do the Flag Hoisting Ceremony. In various private organisations a senior officer of that organisation carries out the Flag Hoisting Ceremony. Schools and colleges around the country organize flag hoisting ceremony and various cultural activities within their respective premises. Housing colonies, cultural centres, clubs and societies do celebrate Independence Day.

It is a customary to remember those Indian Leaders, Activists and Freedom Fighters who laid their lives in liberating India from alien rulers and also who have sown the seeds of development of India.

They are
Ashfaqulla Khan, Aravinda Ghos, Dr Annie Besant, Allamah Iqbal, Dr BR Ambedkhar, Bhagat Singh, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bhulabhai Desai, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Bidhan Chandra Roy, Bipin Chandra Pal, Bagha Jatin Mukherjee, Chittaranjan Das, Chakravarthy Rajagopalachari, Chandra Sekhar Azad, Dadabhai Naoroji, Dinesh Gupta, Gobind Vallabh Pant, Gopalakrishna Gokhale, Jayaprakash Narayan, Jawaharlal Nehru, JB Kriplani, K Kamaraj, Kulapati Munshi, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, Khudiram Bose, Lala Lajpat Rao, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Mahadeo Govind Ranade, Motilal Nehru, Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya, Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Mani Lal Gandhi, Mangal Pandey, Purushottam Das Tandon, Rajendra Prasad, Ram Manohar Lohi, Rash Behari Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Ram Prasad Bismil, Senapati Bapat, S Satya Murti, Shivaram Rajguru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Sukhdev, Sarojini Naidu, Surendranath Benerjee, Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishna, Tantiya Tope, Vinobha Bhave, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Vallabh Bhai Patel, VO Chidambaram Pillai, Dr Zakir Hussain and many unsung heroes

Once again, let us remember Mahatma Gandhi and recollect what is his meaning of Independence

Quote
Independence means voluntary restraints and discipline,
Independence means voluntary acceptance of the rule of law.
Unquote

Jai Hind

Y. Babji,
President, SR Nagar Welfare Association

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