The role of people’s representatives is most important in a democracy, said the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind. He was addressing the members of Gujarat Legislative Assembly in Gandhinagar. The President said that the members of Legislative Assembly are representatives of the people of their area and state. But the more important thing is that the people consider them to be the creators of their destiny.
The hopes and aspirations of the people are associated with them. He said that efforts to fulfill those aspirations of the people should be paramount for all of them. Pointing to the fact that he was addressing the members of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly when India is celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the President said that there is no better place than Gujarat to celebrate freedom and its Amrit Mahotsav.
The people of Gujarat region were pioneers in envisioning an independent India. In the last decades of the 19th century, personalities like Dadabhai Naoroji and Feroz Shah Mehta raised their voices for the rights of Indians. That struggle was continuously strengthened by the people of Gujarat and eventually culminated in India’s independence under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi, he added.
The President said that Mahatma Gandhi not only provided leadership to India’s freedom struggle, but also showed a new path, a new thinking and a new philosophy to the whole world. Today whenever there is any kind of violence in the world, the importance of Bapu’s motto, ‘Ahimsa’, is realized.
The President said that the history of Gujarat is unique. This land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel can be called the land of Satyagraha. The mantra of Satyagraha was established as an unfailing weapon against colonialism all over the world. Bardoli Satyagraha, Salt Movement and Dandi March not only gave a new shape to our freedom struggle, but also gave a new dimension to the expression of protest and the conduct of the mass movement.
The President noted that Gujarat has made remarkable contributions in the field of science in the modern era. While Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha is considered the father of the Indian nuclear programme, Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the founder of the Physical Research Laboratory, is respected as the pioneer of Indian science, especially India’s space research.
