Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's speech at conclusion of Lal Bahadur Shastri Centenary Celebrations

"I am indeed very happy to be once again amongst you, at the end of an eventful year, during which our Nation paid its solemn tribute to the memory of Late Lal Bahadur Shastriji. A wide variety of programmes has been undertaken to recall Shastriji's contribution to our national life.

I am delighted that this year we opened the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial and a library was set up, in New Delhi. Doordarshan produced a lively docu-drama on his life. A national award was instituted in Shastriji's name. A Chair has been created in Shastriji's name in the field of democracy and governance in Delhi University. Several State Governments have also organized a variety of programmes to honour and cherish his memory. I think it is a befitting finale to those year-long celebrations, that we are today releasing commemorative coins in Shastriji's honour.

I am sure all these programmes have made a new generation of our citizens appreciate the personality of Shastriji and his enormous contributions to our nation. India was blessed, in the last Century, to have been home to so many great, yet simple, people. They were all imbued by Gandhiji's philosophy of high thinking and simple living. It is important and necessary that our future generations should know what kind of men and women have helped build the India of our dreams.

Shastriji was a great Indian patriot, a great freedom fighter, a man of the people and a remarkable Prime Minister. I sincerely believe that we must make all effort necessary to record the contribution of our great leaders to the processes of nation building. This is necessary, not just as a record of historical fact, but to inspire our future generations. Every citizen of our country must know what sacrifices were made by our leaders to attain Independence. Every child must know what great men and women laid the foundation of our sacred Republic. Every student must know how our Republic was built, brick by brick, to create this magnificent edifice of a new, resurgent India.

In that glorious history, Shastriji's name will be written in letters of gold. He was, without doubt, one of the great builders of modern India. His contribution to our agricultural development and the Green Revolution is well known. His brave leadership during the years of agrarian and military crisis has earned him a special place in our hearts. His slogan, "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" is heard even to this day in every corner of our country.

Centenary Celebrations should not be merely occasions for making speeches and eulogizing the departed. They should be occasions for introspection. We must ask ourselves whether we are worthy of our great leaders, whether we are walking in their footsteps, whether we have imbibed the lessons they tried to teach us, whether there is something from their life that holds meaning for all of us. These should be occasions to think about the relevance of the past, for our present and for the making of a bright future for our children and our grand-children.

Leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Shastriji, Indiraji, Rajivji and the many others that the Congress Party created and offered to the nation have done India proud. The Congress Party has steadfastly symbolized Indian nationalism in its great diversity and plurality. The Congress and its leadership fought for our freedom. We strove for our liberation from colonial rule. We have struggled to build a new India. Leaders like Shastriji were sons of the soil who rose like the Himalayas to become leaders of great stature. They were India's pride.

Even today, the Congress Party is at the vanguard of our Nation's development. We are all inheritors of this great tradition. We all feel empowered by our heritage. Our leaders inspire us, as they inspire every Congress member, and indeed, every citizen of this great nation. They inspire us to take India forward to build a strong India, a caring and inclusive India, a modern and forward-looking India, an India that will once again regain its pride of place in the comity of Nations.

I salute the memory of our leaders, like Lal Bahadur Shastriji, who inspire us to dedicate ourselves to the greater glory of our Motherland".