Page 48 - Mann ki Baat June 2022 - English
P. 48
WORLD’S LARGEST DEMOCRACY
CHERISHING THE UNDYING SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY
‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ is a
An attempt was made to
celebration of 75 years of India’s
crush the democracy of India.
Independence. In other words, the
The country’s courts, every
country is celebrating 75 years of
constitutional institution, the
its transition from colonial rule to
press, were put under control.
democratic self-governance. The
The condition of censorship
spirit of democracy which finds
was such that nothing could
itself at the core of India’s freedom
be printed without approval. movement has always been
But even after many attempts, integral to our civilizational ethos.
thousands of arrests and
As also stated by the Hon’ble
atrocities on lakhs of people,
Prime Minister himself, at the
the faith of the people of India in
Summit for Democracy convened
democracy did not shake… not
in December last year, elected
at all! republican city-states such as
-Prime Minister Narendra Modi Lichhavi and Shakya flourished
(in his 'Mann ki Baat' address) in India as far as 2,500 years
back. The same democratic
th
spirit can be seen in the 10
Century Uttaramerur inscription
that codified the principles of
democratic participation. This
very spirit and ethos had made
ancient India prosperous.
Centuries of colonial rule could
not suppress the democratic spirit
of the Indian people. This very
spirit again found full expression
with India’s Independence, and
led to an unparalleled story in
democratic nation-building over
the last 75 years.
Ensuring India’s identity as a
vibrant democracy is not an
easy task; there are multitudes of
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