On the auspicious occasion of 75th anniversary of Independence Day, I take the pleasure in extending my greetings to all my Naga brothers and sisters.
August 15 is a red-letter day and it always fills us with excitement of hoisting our Tricolour and taking part in celebrations and listening to patriotic songs. Today our Independent India has become 75 years old. On this occasion, my bow of reverence to the martyrs of our independence struggle – who fought selflessly, endured untold sufferings and laid down their lives to give us freedom.
Freedom came to our country on August 15, 1947. It was the result of years and decades and centuries of sacrifice and valour on the part of our ancestors and our revered freedom fighters. They came from all regions of the country, all sections of society, all communities and all social and economic groups. Their commitment to India – to a free, sovereign, socialist and democratic republic is an award to us. I take the privilege to pay my reverence to these freedom fighters on this occasion.
I am also happy to note that under the initiative of the Government of India we are celebrating ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ commemorating 75th anniversary of Independence and the glorious history of it’s people, culture and achievements. This Mahotsav is dedicated to the people of India who have been instrumental in making India a world leader. This is a festival of awakening of the nation; festival of fulfilling the dream of good governance; and the festival of global peace and development.
I also congratulate the people of Nagaland for responding to the call of our visionary Prime Minister in the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign by hoisting the National flag at every household and also compliment the State government for taking the initiative to achieve the campaign.
My dear Naga brothers and sisters, Nagaland has been and shall ever remain an integral part of India. Preserving our unique cultural identity, we must break the colonial miasma and march in step with the rest of the country in our journey of shared prosperity.
In the story of India’s resurgence, Nagaland cannot be left behind. Our State is rich in natural and human resources. Being at the gateway of the South-East Asia offers us unique geo-economic opportunities. In order to make a glorious Nagaland we must prioritise developing our most precious human resource which unfortunately has suffered a relative decline in recent decades. We have to build robust and equitable health and education sectors to ensure healthy, skilled and well educated citizenry. We have to build modern connectivity infrastructures – both physical and digital. We have to build a healthy ecosystem of investment and entrepreneurship. We must eliminate illicit gangs and guns and institutionalized corruption from the State.
My dear youths of Nagaland, you are the future of the State and the Country. The Country and the World is changing at an unprecedented fast pace. We are in the age of Artificial Intelligence where change is happening at an unimaginable speed. Your march into the future has to keep pace with the change around and it cannot be by looking into the rear-view mirror. Maintaining strong emotional and cultural bonds with your custom, tradition and identity and overcoming the narcissism of minor differences, you have to race ahead keeping pace with time, technology and contemporary realities.
As we proceed, we would do well to continue to focus with much urgency on the areas of education, health and youth. These are the key indicators to the success we hope to realize as a nation, whether in the social, economic, cultural or governance arenas.
I appeal to all my fellow Nagas not to lose hope but instead believe in your ability to achieve individual potentials and build a great nation.
We are happy at the amazing feats of our young people who are blazing a trail of excellence in sports and education and other areas too. We thank their teachers, coaches and professors for the invaluable time invested in them.
Today, as we stand on our 75th anniversary of Independence, we can reflect on our achievements with pride and hope, knowing that despite the challenges, setbacks and despair, the combined efforts of dedicated and hard working Nagas have laid a foundation on which we can build a brighter future for our country.
We have a duty to care for each other, I ask you to assist in the mentoring of our young people. Help them with their homework, assist in youth organizations, volunteer in some activity for the elderly and give public service in whatever way you can.
The future of this nation is embedded in the creativity of our people, the dedication to quality service and our productive use of the natural resources bequeathed to us by God and nature.
Once again, My heartiest congratulations to all of you on the occasion of our Independence Day.
God bless Nagaland!
JAI HIND