India Tomorrow
New Delhi, August 14— President Ram Nath Kovind highlighted coexistence and conciliation in his Independence Day address to the nation Wednesday evening. He also talked about the recent decisions of the central government regarding Jammu and Kashmir.
“…I would like to turn to how we Indians should see one another – how we should have the same expectations from and regard for fellow citizens as we would expect them to have from and for us. Through the millennia and through the centuries, India has rarely been a judgemental society. Rather, it has had an easy-going, live-and-let-live organising principle. We respect each other’s identity – whether born of region, language or faith; or even the absence of faith. India’s history and destiny, India’s legacy and future, are a function of coexistence and conciliation, of reform and reconciliation – of expanding our hearts and embracing the ideas of others,” said the President
Talking about the central government’s move about Jammu and Kashmir, the President said:
“The illustrious generation that led us to freedom did not perceive independence only in terms of transfer of political power. They considered it a stepping stone in a longer and larger process of nation building and national welding. Their objective was to improve the life of each individual, each family and of society as a whole.”
“In this backdrop, I am confident that the recent changes made in Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh would be of immense benefit to those regions. They will enable the people to access and enjoy the same rights, same privileges and same facilities as their fellow citizens in the rest of the country. These include progressive, egalitarian laws and provisions related to the Right to Education; accessing public information through the Right to Information; reservations in education and employment and other facilities for traditionally deprived communities; and justice for our daughters by abolishing unequal practices such as instant triple talaq,” said the President.
He was referring to the last week’s abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
