नई दिल्ली में 'नेहरू केंद्र भारत' के उद्घाटन अवसर बोलते हुए कांग्रेस संसदीय दल की नेता सोनिया गांधी ने कहा कि भारत के पहले प्रधानमंत्री जवाहर लाल नेहरू को बदनाम करने और उनकी विरासत को मिटाने का तथाकथित प्रोजेक्ट दरअसल भारतीय राष्ट्र की सामाजिक, राजनीतिक और आर्थिक नींव पर हमला है। उन्होंने कहा कि यह वहीं शक्तियां हैं, जिनका भारतीय स्वतंत्रता संग्राम में कोई योगदान नहीं हैं, जिनकी संविधान निर्माण में कोई भूमिका नहीं है। सच्चाई तो यह है कि उन्होंने संविधान को जलाया था और इसके खिलाफ थे। कार्यक्रम में उपस्थित जनसमूह को संबोधित करते हुए उन्होंने कहा कि आने वाला समय बहुत चुनौतीपूर्ण है, मगर इसका सामना हमें मिलकर करना होगा। इसके अलावा कोई विकल्प नहीं है। #soniagandhi #nehrucenter #congress
01:13His was a life anchored firmly in parliamentary democracy.
01:21He had a steadfast belief in planned economic growth,
01:25a profound commitment to the development of scientific temper
01:33alongside the development of scientific and technological capabilities.
01:40To him, secularism, in which he firmly believed, meant above all
01:50a celebration of India's many diversities, while strengthening its fundamental unity.
01:58His legacy continues to shape our everyday lives.
02:04Decades have gone by since his time, but he continues to serve as a beacon of light to millions of our countrymen and women.
02:18It is inevitable that such a monumental figure will have his life and work analyzed and critiqued.
02:30That is indeed as it should be.
02:34Although the temptation to divorce him from his times and the challenges that he had to face,
02:44and to look at him devoid of the historical context in which infunction has become quite widespread.
02:56Yet, while we welcome ongoing analysis of his contributions,
03:03what is not acceptable is the systematic attempt being made to denigrate, distort, demean and disaimely.
03:15The sole objective of this is to not only diminish him as a personality,
03:25his universally recognized role in India's independence struggle and his early decades as a leader of an independent nation,
03:37challenged by unprecedented problems.
03:41But it is also to demolish his multifaceted legacy in a crude and self-serving attempt to rewrite history.
03:53A legacy is one thing, but deliberate mischief with what he said, what he wrote and what he did is another thing and totally unacceptable.
04:10And who are the countries that have launched this project?
04:18We all know that they have been worked for years and years, for decades.
04:24And finally, here they come.
04:28They belong to the ideology that had no role whatsoever in our freedom movement.
04:36that had no role whatsoever in the making of our constitution.
04:44In fact, they even burnt it. They were totally against it.
04:50It is an ideology that long ago spanned an atmosphere of hate that ultimately led to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
05:05His killers today continue to be glorified by its adherence.
05:13It is an ideology which has consistently rejected the ideals of our human fathers.
05:23It is an ideology with a bigoted and vicious communal outlook.
05:31Its approach to nationhood is based on stoking prejudices of all kinds.
05:39Let there be no doubt whatsoever that the project to vilify Javad-Muneru is the main objective of the ruling establishment today.
05:53Their goal is not just to erasing, it is actually to destroy the social, political and economic foundation on which our nation has been founded and built.
06:11The road ahead is not easy.
06:15But there is simply no option but for each one of us, individually and collectively, to stand up and confront this project.
06:29We not only owe it to the memory of Javad-Muneru and his comrades, we owe it to ourselves and even more to come in generations.
06:45The unapologetic and fierce defense of the Nehruvian legacy, it is not an act of nostalgia.
06:54It is a commitment to restoring India's constitutional promise, to safeguarding reason in the face of propaganda,
07:09and to ensuring that our republic remains modern and forward-looking.
07:17If we succeed, it will not only honour Javad-Muneru's medal, it will ensure that India's vision remains a reality.
07:32At a time when tolerance in public life is shrinking, when dissent is tainted as disloyalty, and history is reduced to partisan combat, Nehruv's example becomes even more vital.
07:54He taught us that peace agreement is not a threat, but a democratic necessity, that unity does not demand uniformity, that a confident nation may not fear the truth about its past.
08:14Friends, there is some reason for hope. Last month, Rezabaharla Nehru Memorial Fund also launched an archive which can be accessed to Nehru archive.in.
08:34The archive is an easily searchable and freely downloadable digital archive, also by the way, accessible on your smartphone.
08:50As present, it covers the hundred published volumes of his selected works, covering the period 1903, till the day before he died.
09:06The archive will continue to get this inspired. So there are a few familiar words that have any time you want to know something about what he said or what he wrote or what he did.
09:20So Sandeep Dixit's initiative, which has brought all of us, us all, here this evening, is another sincere attempt to think on this challenge of rescuing Nehru's from the web of deception.
09:41And we need many, many, many, many more such initiatives across the length and breadth of our country.
09:51I will end by congratulating Sandeep and his team and wishing him and his community the same best in their endeavors.
Be the first to comment