30TH JAWAHARLAL NEHRU MEMORIAL LECTURE BY SHRI JYOTI BASU, CHIEF MINISTER OF WEST BENGAL

13TH NOVEMBER 1998 AT 1800 HRS

WELCOME ADDRESS BY SMT. SONIA GANDHI

Shri Jyoti Basuji,

Friends,

Tomorrow is Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's 107th Birthday. It is a day on which we rededicate ourselves to his vision of a progressive India, while safeguarding her freedom and unity, and ensuring moral and material dignity for all its people, will work for peace, justice and brotherhood with the wider world.

Over the years, we have had a number of distinguished scholars and statesmen to deliver the Nehru Memorial lectures.

It is our privilege today to have one of our country's seniormost public figures, one who had personally known Jawaharlal Nehru, as our honoured speaker. Chief Minister of West Bengal for a record of 21 years, he has through his dedication and drive, won the esteem of his people and of the whole country cutting across party lines, just as Dr. B. C. Roy and done before him. Dr Roy and Shri Basu belong to the long line of sterling patriots whom Bengal has gifted to the nation. Whatever our political differences with Shri Basu, we are sure that the good of India is his foremost concern.

Panditji's quest for the essence of India found its apoges in his last book. 'The Discovery of India', written during his imprisonment in Ahmednagar Fort. You would recoll it begins with the description of his travels across the land during the elections of 1937. He says he would be welcomed wherever he went with fervent shouts of 'Bharat Mata ki jai.' And he would ask who or what was this Bharat Mata whose victory they were seeking? Was it the dust or the grass or the trees and the leaves, or was it the people themselves?

Answering his own question, Panditji told us that India was not a mere geographical expression or just a historical entity but the very mind of india, its unique capacity to welcome alien influences and synthesizing the best of these influences into a coherent and composite heritage. Nowhere else has the principle of unity in diversity been raised, as it has been in India over the millennia, into a civilisational principle, the very basis of our nationhood. Take away this unshakable dedication to diversity and the very spirit of India disappears.

The Freedom Movement harnessed that civilisational principle into the practical politics of building a nation. We have succeeded in holding together this vast and diverse country, owing to several reasons. Foremost among them are the wisdom and farsightedness of our Founding Fathers and the great leaders who followed them. No less important is the fact that the people of India are by nature, secular and respect, in their hearts, all faiths.

They do not seek to impose a dull and rigid system of linguistic and cultural uniformity on the people of India no matter what their linguistic and religious identity.

Our people understand that our unity is safe as long as our diversity is assured. You will recall that thousands of years ago our ancient seers had proclaimed that the world is one family. In the 20th century the rest of the world is waking up to this fact.

It is, therefore, disturbing that within the country an assault has of late been mounted on these most fundamental values of nation-building. This assault takes many forms, one of which is to dacry secularism and all that Jawaharlal Nehru stood for, to malign him, and his personality and his historic contribution. But Jawaharlal Nehru's contribution is so towering that it can survive any battering by prejudiced politicians and their skewed history. But if the mind of India, particularly the young mind, is led wodn twisted paths, it could do lasting damage to the essence of our being as a nation. It is that endeavour which we must guard against. Secularism is the cause for which Jawaharlal Nehru worked with all his phenomenal energy.

Speaking at the Ram Lila grounds on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary in 1951, Panditji said:

"If any man raises his hand against another in the name of religion, I shall fight him till the last breath of my life - Whether I am in government or outside."

In the name of religion, many hands are being raised today against the life and limb, and rights and property of persons of other religious persuasions. The very identity of the children of Mother India is being questioned. It is the struggle to protect and cherish our plurality, whether one is in government or outside, that constitutes the heart of our political agenda.

This is the agenda, which all forward looking and patriotic minded countrymen must strive to fulfil.

Once again I extend a warm welcome to Shri Jyoti Basu and all of you.

Thank you.