New Delhi: On the eve of Independence day in India, President Ram Nath Kovind recalling Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘power of Ahinsa’ mantra which led us to our freedom, on Tuesday said “contentious issues and extraneous debates” should not be allowed to “distract us”.
He addressed the nation through television where he reminded the nation of how Gandhiji had fought, Indian Express reported.
“The power to stay your hand is far greater than the power to strike with your hand and hinsa has no place in society,” he said.
“We are at a juncture in our history that is very different from any period we have so far experienced. We are at the cusp of achieving many of our long-awaited goals. Universal access to electricity, the elimination of open defecation, the elimination of homelessness, the very elimination of extreme poverty is achievable and attainable. We are at a pivotal moment. Let contentious issues and extraneous debates not distract us,”the President said.
He continued on saying that women in Indian have a special role in our society. “The expansion of freedom in our country in many senses amounts to the expansion of freedom for women in our country. This is true whether we see them as mothers, sisters, daughters or simply as women who are entitled to a life of their choosing – and deserving of the opportunity and the security to fulfill their potential. They could do this as sheet-anchors of our families or as absolutely critical entrants to our institutions of higher learning and our workforce. The choice is theirs; as a nation and as a society we must ensure that they have the right and the ability to exercise that choice,” he reminds the citizens.
He said that every citizen of this nation who fulfills his/ her duty sincerely, “personal as well as professional obligations and keeps to a given word is, at a fundamental level, upholding the principles of our freedom struggle. I would argue that every Indian who does not jump the queue and respects the civic space and rights of those ahead in the line also lives up to the principles of our freedom struggle. It’s a very small gesture. Let us try and abide by it.”
The army, parliamentary forces even the farmers are all together upholding the true spirit of freedom struggle he added.