prime minister manmohan singh speech on independence day
2006-08-15My dear countrymen, brothers, sisters, and dear children My greetings to all of
you on this day, the anniversary of our Independence.
Today is an auspicious day for our country. Today we enter the 60th year of our
Independence. Today we re-dedicate ourselves to the progress and prosperity of our nation.
To the welfare of all our people. To the unity and integrity of our country.
Today we salute our beloved tricolor. We pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and all those
freedom fighters because of whose efforts and sacrifices we secured our Independence. We
remember all those whose hard work and efforts keep our flag flying high and keep our
country on the road to progress. We pay tribute to the brave members of our armed forces,
farmers, teachers, scientists, workers and the millions of our countrymen who are toiling
tirelessly for the progress and prosperity of our nation.
In the early hours of the 15th of August, 1947, when our nation had just become
Independent, our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru spoke to the nation and asked us
all one important question on the very first day we became a free country: “Are we brave
enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?”
Today, my fellow citizens, I stand here once again and ask you that same question. Are we
ready to face the challenge of the future? Are we brave enough, to do so, and wise enough,
in doing so? Can we rediscover the ideas and ideals that shaped our freedom struggle, and
use them to take our country forward into the future? Are we willing to show the courage
and the wisdom that Panditji wanted us to show in building a new India in a new world?
The going has never been as good for India in the past as it is now. Our economy has been
growing at an impressive pace of over 8 per cent. Such rapid growth over three successive
years is unprecedented in Indian history. Wherever I go, I see our nation on the move. Our
industry and services sectors are showing impressive growth. I see a reassuring confidence
in our industry in being able to take on the challenge of the rest of the world. The growth
of the manufacturing industry has touched 11 per cent in the last quarter, generating many
jobs for our youth and workers. I see our service sector competing with the best and
