Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's address at the presentation of 13th Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award

"Respected Dr. K.R. Narayananji, respected Ushaji, respected Soniaji, respected Justice Ahmadiji, respected Voraji, respected Narayan Dutt Tiwariji, distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

Today we have assembled here to celebrate the life and work of one of the greatest leaders of our time, Shri Rajiv Gandhi and there could not be a more befitting way of celebrating his life and his work than by honouring a very distinguished citizen, public servant, leader of great fame and name that Shri K.R. Narayananji is. Therefore, I began by extending my respectful greetings and hearty congratulations to Shri K.R. Narayananji. We are all proud to honour him on the 61st anniversary of the birth of our beloved Rajivji.

Ladies and gentlemen, The Sadbhavana Award commemorates the extraordinary life of one of our brightest stars in our political firmament, Shri Rajiv Gandhi. My own personal association with Rajivji left me with an abiding impression of a complete man, a man with great dreams for his country and for the people he truly loved. The freshness of his vision is quite current and gentle charm, inspired people of great ability and patriotism to follow him in serving our great nation. One such man of great ability and conviction who shared Rajivji's dreams and visions of a new resurgent India is today's awardee, Dr. K.R. Narayanan.

Ladies and gentlemen, Sadbhavana is an ideal that derives from the roots of our civilisational ethos. It evolves from our traditional world view which sees the universe as equal members of one large family. This concept so dear to Rajivji is drawn from well springs of our ancient civilisation. It is the inspiration and guiding principle of our young Republic. This philosophical construct not only captures the spirit of Rajivji, it also informed his life and his work. In early days of his tenure as Prime Minister, Rajivji said: "Secularism is the bedrock of our nationhood. It implies more than tolerance. It involves an active effort of harmony". This is the true essence of sadbhavana. I believe Rajivji would have been mightily pleased that we are today honouring Shri K.R. Narayanan with the Sadbhavana Award. Narayananji is a proud example of the triumph of ability and determination over discrimination and inherited disadvantage. His achievements in the field as diverse as academics and politics proved that a society based on sadbhavana creates opportunities for all its citizens alike. However, more than the success that Narayananji has achieved in his extraordinary life is the fact that he is an integral part of that efforts to mould the destiny of our country. As Minister responsible for Science and Technology, he was part of Rajivji's efforts to transform our strategy to meet challenges facing modern India.

Rajivji argued that while India may have missed Industrial Revolution, it cannot afford to miss the computer revolution. He recognised our capability to ride the crest of what Alwin Toffler called the third wave i.e. technology in our development strategy. Rajivji believed that development of Science and Technology in India were essential to maintain not only self-sufficiency in all fields but to march forward to attain our rightful place in the comity of nations. He was convinced that the creation of a scientific temper would be the key to India's development. In 1986, he said: "Once we have a scientific temper, it will remove the fear of the unknown which keeps people back from moving ahead and using the tools that are available to them." Indeed, global recognition today of our technological capabilities is a living tribute to Rajivji's vision and to all those who helped realise it such as Dr. K.R. Narayananji. Dr. Narayanan's subsequent career shows that Rajivji has accurately recognised his formidable capabilities.

As Vice President of our Republic, he earned the respect of the Upper House for the manner in which he conducted its proceedings. He always articulated the sensitivities of our Republic at times of need. I recall his anguish when he described the destruction of the Babri Masjid as India's worst tragedy since the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Later, as President, he described riots in Gujarat and elsewhere as a crisis of our society and of our nation. We shared his belief that such tragic events militate against the secular foundations of our Republic. As President of our Republic, we took pride in the manner in which Dr. Narayanan represented our nation and upheld our Constitutional norms. History will bear witness to the fact that as President of our Republic, he added stature to India's image in the comity of nations. Within our country too, his words inspired our political leadership to find answers to issues confronting our society. We must remember the weighty question he posed to the nation when he said: " Let us examine if the Constitution has failed us or have we failed the Constitution?" We also recall his wise words when he urged our highways of liberalisation to provide safe pedestrian passage for the unemployed and the unempowered.

Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. K.R. Narayanan's many friends are greatly encouraged by the fact that he continues to serve our nation today. I have always believed that his assertion that humanity has more in common than what divides it defines his own humanistic and broad-minded approach. This is of course, the very core of the concept of sadbhavana. For all these reasons, I believe that we found an appropriate candidate for this Award, named after our beloved Rajivji. I am confident that Rajivji would have been mightily pleased by this decision today. Conferring this award upon a person like Shri K.R. Narayanan so richly deserving of this award is as much credit to ourselves as it is recognition of the greatness of the man whose life is commemorated through this award. I once again congratulate Dr. K.R. Narayanan. I wish Ushaji and him - health, happiness and many many more years of productive and creative service to our nation and our people."