00:00When I look back, the beginning of my life and the major events of my life were not with the attainment of independence.
00:17I saw the rule of the British.
00:20And for the first 20 years of my life, I had only one desire in my mind.
00:27When will I be free from this imperialism? How will I be free?
00:33And in those days, when I used to hear about Mahatma Gandhi,
00:42or when I had the opportunity to see him in Karachi,
00:48or when I came here,
00:52I used to feel that such great people were born in the world.
01:00And today, when I think about India, India has become independent.
01:15India has also become a superpower.
01:21People have no doubt that India will become a superpower in the coming years.
01:33But despite all these specialties,
01:39if someone asks me today,
01:43what is the biggest speciality,
01:47that after getting freedom from the British,
01:51after becoming independent,
01:54after becoming a constitution in India,
02:00and today, after the first day of the Parliament,
02:06after 70 years,
02:08who do you think is the biggest achievement?
02:11I will tell you why we are celebrating this day.
02:16India has become a great and successful superpower.
02:23I consider this achievement to be the biggest achievement.
02:28In those days, when India adopted the superpower in 1950,
02:37what kind of comments did the foreign scholars make?
02:41That this country will become a democratic country.
02:45And I do not quote anyone,
02:51but the great scholars there also said that
02:53in a country where millions of people cannot write their names,
02:59if they sign a document,
03:03they sign it with a thumbprint.
03:07How will that country become a democracy?
03:10How will that country become a successful democracy?
03:14There were many people who expressed doubts and disbelief.
03:20And today, this country, which denies all their doubts and disbelief,
03:29can proudly say that for 60 years,
03:35we have made this country a successful democracy.
03:39To celebrate this,
03:41today, on 13th May, we are celebrating this special occasion.
03:48I remember,
03:52it was in 1989 or 1990,
03:56when I was the president of the party,
04:00a Canadian television team came to New Delhi.
04:05They came to my Ashok Road office to meet me.
04:10They came and said,
04:14you have so much experience of India's democracy,
04:18from independence to today.
04:22We want to know from you,
04:25that in all the developed countries around the world,
04:30after getting freedom from imperialism,
04:34they adopted democracy.
04:36But in most of the countries,
04:39democracy somehow got disintegrated.
04:43Somewhere, there was military rule.
04:45Somewhere, there was some kind of authoritarian rule.
04:49Only your country,
04:51where it is still alive,
04:55it is still successful,
04:57and it is still determined to make its future on its basis.
05:03What is the reason?
05:06I said, I think.
05:09I think of only one thing.
05:11I think that for the success of democracy,
05:16the biggest quality is
05:18that there should be a feeling of tolerance
05:22even for the opposite opinion.
05:29But I am proud of the fact
05:32that in our country,
05:34for the opposite opinion,
05:36or for the opinion,
05:38there is not only a feeling of tolerance,
05:41but a feeling of respect.
05:43And this feeling of respect,
05:46I say it as an example,
05:48that the most unfavorable situation in any field
05:52is in the field of religion.
05:56In the fields of sects and religions.
06:01And in that field,
06:03scientists and the inquisition were brought to the fore
06:07that what you are saying is not written in religious texts.
06:12Therefore, there will be a trial for you.
06:15Forget the trial in India,
06:17there was a thinker who said,
06:21if you do good deeds,
06:24you will be rewarded in the next life.
06:27These priests talk nonsense.
06:29You don't worry about them.
06:31And you eat a lot, drink a lot and enjoy.
06:36Eat, drink and make merry.
06:41Their famous quote is,
06:45Yavat Jeevam Sukham Jeevet
06:47Rinam Kripa Gritam Pivet
06:50Rinam Kripa Gritam Pivet
06:52Meaning, take a loan and drink ghee.
06:56When I used to tell this in western countries,
07:00I used to tell them,
07:02he was not talking of credit cards.
07:05Rinam Kripa Gritam Pivet
07:08Vaspi Bhootasya Dehasya
07:11Kunala Gamanam Putah
07:13This body is going to be destroyed.
07:15Thinking that the next birth will come,
07:17nothing will come.
07:18This is nonsense.
07:20And this charvak who said this,
07:22he was not brought to the fore by the inquisition.
07:25He was called Rishi Charvak.
07:28Meaning, not the best,
07:30but the feeling of respect.
07:32When in the field of religion,
07:36if the one who has a different opinion is respected,
07:40and he is called a Rishi,
07:42then in the economic, social and political field,
07:46if a person says,
07:48that the whole world should be under the rule of the state,
07:51and the other person says,
07:52that the whole world should be under the rule of the common people,
07:55how can there be intolerance in this?
07:58I believe,
08:00that in India,
08:01the main reason for the success of the democracy
08:05is the feeling of respect for the opposite opinion.
08:09And the parliament is a great example of this.
08:13My senior colleague,
08:16he is a senior in the parliament for 3-4 months,
08:19and I,
08:20both of us came to the state assembly first,
08:23and
08:25what he just said,
08:27I fully endorse that.
08:30And I say,
08:32that if we have a feeling of respect for each other,
08:37a feeling of respect for the opposite opinion,
08:41then through debate,
08:43through debate,
08:45through debate,
08:47every problem will be solved.
08:49And the success of the parliament is because of this.
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