In his last Independence Day speech before the 2014 lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh touched upon a wide range of issues to motivate the youth and inspire confidence of the country.
His 30-minute speech was packed with economic growth, infrastructural leap, the killing of Indian soldiers by the Pakistan Army, and Naxalism.
Addressing the nation after unfurling the Tricolour from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Singh cautioned against communal rift within the country and said this would harm the democratic set-up. “There can be no place for narrow and sectarian ideologies in a modern, progressive and secular country as they divide society and weaken democracy. We need to strengthen those traditions of our country which teach us to promote tolerance and respect for thought processes different from ours.”
There is a need to build an environment of political stability, social cohesion, and security to ensure that the country continues to progress and gets rid of poverty, disease and ignorance, he added. “Our India will be prosperous and all its citizens will be equal partners in this prosperity, irrespective of their religion, caste, region or language,” said the PM. He also expressed hope that the food security law will be passed by Parliament soon.
However, Singh admitted that economic growth had been slow this year, but said the Government was working hard for correction. “I believe that this phase of slow growth in India will not last long. The average rate of economic growth that we have attained in the last nine years shows what we are capable of,” he said, exuding confidence that the slowdown in Indian economy will not last long.
Singh finally gave a much anticipated reaction to the recent killing of five Indian soldiers on the loC in Poonch sector of Jammu & Kashmir. In a strong message to Pakistan, he said anti-India activities emanating from there will have to stop for relations to improve and asserted that all steps will be taken to prevent 'dastardly' acts like the recent killing of jawans on the loC. We will take all possible steps to prevent such incidents in future, he assured.
Maintaining that India has strived for friendship with its neighbours, Singh said, “However, for relations with Pakistan to improve, it is essential that they prevent the use of their territory and the territory under their control for any anti-India activity.”
On the issue of internal security, he said terrorist and Naxal violence in the country have reduced but the area of national security calls for constant vigil. Calling the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh on May 25 as a 'frontal attack on our democracy', Singh said, “We have not been successful in preventing Naxal attacks that happen from time to time.” Congress lost some top leaders, including State unit chief, in that attack, he added.
The Prime Minister said despite some worrisome communal incidents last year and this year, the last nine years have otherwise been good for communal harmony. Although he did not elaborate, his mention about this year's communal violence seemed to be in reference to last week's riots in Kishtwar in Jammu & Kashmir.
Singh expressed anguish over the loss of Navy's frontline submarine INS Sindhurakshak. “We are deeply pained that we lost the submarine, INS Sindurakshak, in an accident yesterday. Eighteen brave sailors are feared to have lost their lives,” he said.
Targeting higher growth in job sector, he said a new scheme in the skill development programme will be launched to benefit a million youth per year. “In the area of skill development, we could not initially achieve as much progress as we wanted. But now the pace has picked up. We have established the National Skill Development Authority a few months back,” he said. Talking about his Government's achievements, he pronounced, “We have journeyed a long distance in the last decade. But much remains to be done. The process of change that we have witnessed will be continued in the coming time.”
Expressing anguish over the Uttarakhand floods disaster, Singh said the Government was working with all resources under its command to rehabilitate people and rebuild the damaged infrastructure in the hill State. Against the backdrop of death of 23 children in the mid-day meal tragedy in Bihar last month, he promised that the scheme will be reformed and 'concrete measures' will be taken to ensure that meals provided under the scheme are nutritious and cooked hygienically.