Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long supressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.- Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru moving the transfer of power resolution in the house.
Read the actual proceedings at the Constitution Hall of Parliament that commenced at 11:00 PM 14 August, 1947 and culminated with the transfer of power to the Constituent Assembly of India.
17 comments:
Words uttered so many years ago and they are still powerful...arent they?
RS...Absolutely, those words are still so relevant and powerfull even today.
op...if you could get hold of the audio of the speech, it would make for great listening.
Hey Esh, Here is the link for the speech.
esh excellent post asusual.
but todays gen x, have we instilled the importance of freedom and national unity in them ?!
Rags...thanks. But I had checked that link out earlier and it was not the complete speech though.
Ganesh...today's gen x takes freedom for granted. so they dont know how it would be like if we did not have freedom !!
Yet again ! you did it !
Eshwar,
I think patriotism/national-unity etc., is an over-hyped phenomenon! Dont think people should necessarily have to arrest themselves within these barriers - these barriers will hinder progress/development!
Patriotism/national-unity and other similar concepts encourage defensive-behaviour among us, and this 'defensive-trait' inturn will hinder progress!
yes man seen farenheit 9/11!2wice!the bit which talks abt bush-bin laden family connections is awesome.u may like arundathi roy's an ordinary person's guide 2 empire,a collection of her essays..
Sancha...guess I would beg to differ on your opinions.
siddharth...thanks for the reco's. I kind of never have had a good feeling about Roy and her writings. Dont know why. But sure will give her a try, now that you have recommended her.
Eshwar,
Arundhati Roy's writings are great-read!
I have not read her 'an ordinary person's guide to empire', but have read her other write-up titled 'the greater common good'. Her writings target the misdoings of frameworks like government, nations, corporates etc., and her clarity of thought is appreciable! I think her thoughts are kind of similar to Chomsky's but without those elaborate conspiracy theories!
where have u disappeared?
missing ur articles!!!
Hey,i had similar post on Nehru's speech in my blog.."Same pinch"
Next blog post eppo ??
siddharth...sorry...laziness kicked in !!
adengappa...saw the post in ur blog. same pinch..and btw those NYC pics of the india day parade were awesome.
Its so easy to blame Nehru on hindsight. Its more useful trying to understand why he did some of what he did those days.
We should be careful before being judgemental.
Anand,
1. Nobody supports India's kashmir point, so leave alone israel. In todays world it suits Israel to work closely with india so that the pak nuke does not fall in wrong hands and moreover for india, israel was the easiest route to get top US technology. But ofcourse now that is changing since the US is going to provide them directly to us. So lets see how long this bonhomie lasts.
2. War stopped at the then LOC because of international pressure and the unwillingness of the nascent indian political leadership to involve a newly born country in a bloddy war. Wars have a very destablizing effect on a newly born country. Moreover, the truth is that the then indian army probably did not have the power to complete the victory and hold on to it. ya one could completely mobilize whatever we had and punch them out, but that would lead only to a prolonged war when we should be concentrating on nation building.
3. Well regarding the non use of the air force, i suppose that was tactical mistake. This space is too less to explain more but i would recommend you read Defending India by Jaswant Singh. He has talked of foreign and defence policy during those days.
Anand..I never said we should give up on JnK. All i am asking for is to see the cold logic of realpolitik. When nobody gives a damn...why should you expect them to.
India has to bear her own cross...nobody is going to do it for her. India's problems are hers and hers only. So its high time we pushed morals aside and get realistic.
I think India is pursuing the right path for resolution of issues with its neighbouring countries. The American-way or Israeli-way of solving problems certainly wont work for India!
Our foreign policy is highly revered all-over-the-world and it is better we continue the same path for future course as well!
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