Honorable Chief Guest of Today’s program
Dr. V. K. Saraswat, other invited
guests, revered citizens, mothers, sisters and beloved swayamsewaks:-
Today, we are gathered here to celebrate
our annual festivities of the Vijayadashmi Parva. 90 years have elapsed since the
sangh work was started. This year is the 125th birth anniversary of
Bharatratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. He made a lifelong struggle against the
injustice of social inequality and made provisions in the Constitution thereby
eradicating those discriminations from the political and economic spheres of
our national life. In Shri
Guruji’s (second Sarsanghchalak of RSS) words, his talent was a confluence of Acharya Shankar’s Sharp Intellect and Tathagat Buddha’s unbounded compassion.
Last year was also the 125th
Birth Anniversary of Parampujaniya Dr. Hedgewar (founder of Sangh). He envisioned creation of a prosperous Bharat
as example for the whole world to follow, through collective efforts of an
egalitarian society. The evolution of a technique to create honest and selfless
workers, striving incessantly and wholeheartedly to achieve this goal was his
lifetime contribution. Birth centenary of Late Shri Balasaheb Deoras, an
expert in this technique and the third Sarsanghchalak
of RSS, is also to commence this year. Late Pandit Deendayalji Upadhyay, who
was nurtured in this technique, had
suggested an integral approach called Ekatma
Manav Darshan, adopted to modern times for the nation, based on the eternal values of Bharatiya
Philosophy. His birth centenary has also commenced.
By a pleasant coincidence, this is also
the 1000th year of
coronation of RajRajeshwar Rajendra Chola, a royal who had established a model of good governance in Bharat and had promulgated in South East Asia the benevolent influence of the eternal Bharatiya culture. Rejecting all disparities based on caste
and creed, and breaking all the barriers of superstitious traditions, Shri
Ramanujacharya made the path of Bhakti to all the sections of the
society, thus paving the way for social harmony.
Preparations are going on at the social
level to celebrate his 1000th birth anniversary in the coming
year. This is also the 1000th birth anniversary of great Shaiva philosopher
from Jammu-Kashmir, Acharya Abhinav Gupt.
The celebration of the 5151th Anniversary of our revered Bhagvad Gita, which conveys the message of doing Karma without expecting any of Phala,
and the principles of “Karmasu Kaushalam”
and “Samatva”, will be continued till
the Gita Jayanti.
Two great souls departed us this year.
Our Ex President, Dr. Abdul Kalam was one who had dedicated his life towards instilling confidence and national pride in
our young generation, while constantly urging them to achieve the best for our
country in all walks of life. Swami Dayanand Saraswati, by being a Vedic teacher, provided a modern view of our eternal culture and
aroused pride and activism about it in our society and the world at
large. Both of these eternal souls etched the message of the glory of Bharat and social unity through their work.
The reason behind remembering all these coincidence
today is to draw our attention to the
call of our innate duty to build up a prosperous, efficient and egalitarian
Bharat, to bring peace, prosperity and progress, right from our families
to the whole world. To accomplish this goal, based on the strength of an organized society, is the point of
contemplation today.
The resurgence of a self reliant, strong,
prosperous and secure Bharat,
giving benevolent and flourishing leadership to the world, is possible only
when an egalitarian, organized and enlightened society with self esteem strives
towards this end; not only that, the firm resolve of such a society will
reflect on the policies of our democratic system and the constitutional
authorities who run the system. Agile, clear, accurate policies as well as
discretion of a society which is free of selfishness and divisiveness are
mandatory requirements to change the destiny of nation and, therefore, it is
essential that both should complement each other.
With this picture in mind, when we
ponder over the present situation in the country, we get a very optimistic and
soothing view. An atmosphere of disappointment and lost faith, which existed
couple of years back, has evaporated. An atmosphere of expectations has come to
fore, generating a sense of optimism
that such expectations shall be fulfilled. It has to be made sure that
these positive vibes reaches the last person in the row, by turning it into an actual experience by
bringing about a real positive change in his life; his trust in the bright
future of his own personal life as also of national, should grow.
It is becoming evident to all that Bharat’s esteem in the world has gone up many-fold
in the last couple of years. In view of Bharat’s national interest, many pro
active steps have been taken to improve bi lateral relationship with the neighboring
countries, with successful results.
It seems that the world is being introduced to a new modern Bharat. The World
is experiencing a Bharat, which is full of self-respect and self confidence, maintaining the traditional view of goodwill
towards all but, at the same time, unhesitatingly taking stand in very clear
terms, in international diplomacy whenever national interests are involved, and
giving a helping hand to nations in distress anywhere in the world. Bharat
is reincarnating itself into an all together new manifestation and the world is
enchanted to see Bharat’s new Avatar with utmost optimism. Bharat’s Gita, Yoga and Tathagat have a universal acceptance
like never before. Keeping in view the need to develop goodwill for Bhartiya psyche and tradition and to
protect and enhance its prestige, Policies are being formulated at the
administrative level. All the developing
nations of the world are looking forward to Bharat’s leadership to emancipate
them from the undesirable influence of the so called world powers. Throughout its
chequered history of rise and fall, Bharat has always treated the whole world
as its own family. On account of its agility and strength, Bharat has always
followed the tradition of finding the balance between national interests and
world interests, with utmost integrity towards both, and today we are gradually
experiencing the glimpse of same age-old diplomatic approach. It is necessary
that this effulgent picture of Bharat is imprinted in the mind of the World as
well as in the mind of every individual of the land. Hence, it is vital that we
should make all walks of our national life
vibrant with a new thought and new valiant efforts. So, creating a new picture of the society capable of adopting policies
and systems in keeping with modern times and, at the same time, based on the foundations
of the eternal truth, which forms the substratum of our immortal national life,
is the need of the hour.
We must come out of “Saheb is
always Right” (“Saheb Wakyam Pramanam”)
mentality. Making Bharatiya mind
and soul as the basis, we should adopt whatever is good, truthful and fair from
the rest of the world and create an independent modern road-map for our nation.
The thoughts and actions of intelligentsia, administration and policies of
government should be transformed accordingly. In the absence of this
synergy, it will not be possible to present a Bharat that is self reliant,
egalitarian, strong and prosperous. Deficiencies of the thought processes and
philosophies, which prevailed for centuries in the world, are being
scientifically proved. The ill-effects of such deficient thought process and
philosophies are even more compelling to ponder over the very same thought
processes and philosophies have made review of them all the more compelling.
In 1951, Social and economic department
of United Nations, supporting these deficient philosophies had made following
proclamation:
“There is a
sense in which rapid economic progress is impossible without painful
adjustments. Ancient philosophies have to be scrapped; old social institutions
have to disintegrate. Bonds of caste, creed and race have to burst and large
numbers of persons who cannot keep up with the progress have to have their
expectations of a comfortable life frustrated. Very few communities are willing
to pay the full price of economic progress.”
It was an extremely materialistic, self-centered and insensitive
philosophy that was forced upon the world. When the ill-effects of the very
same philosophy started affecting
the proponents of this philosophy, they
made a sudden U turn. In October
2005, the conclave of the Governors of Central Banks of the G20 countries declared:
“We note development approaches are evolving over
time and thus need to be updated as economic challenges unfold. ------ We
recognize there is no uniform development approach that fits all the countries.
Each country should be able to choose the development approaches and policies
that best suit its specific characteristics while benefitting from there
accumulated experience in policy making over last decades, including the
importance of strong macroeconomic policies for sustained growth.”
Bringing
more clarity to the statement above, News Bulletin of World Bank in 2008, said:
“In our work across the world we have learnt the
hard way that there is no one model that fits all. Development is all about
transformation. It means taking the best ideas, testing them in new situations
and throwing away what doesn’t work. It means, above all, having the ability to
recognize when we have failed. This is never an easy thing to do. It is ever
more difficult for an organization to do so, be it the government or the World
Bank, which constantly need to adapt to the changing nature of developmental
challenge.”
After this self realization, phrases like ‘Holistic’ and ‘Sustainable
development’ started appearing in the world discourse over development talks.
Environmental concerns also could find made some place in this discourse. So,
it will be prudent to free ourselves from
the tendency to accept this deficient philosophy as the ultimate truth, since
it in itself is going through the cycle of experiment- experience- change. It
would be better if we stick to our time tested philosophy. This philosophy is
based on cooperation and coordination. According to this philosophy, Dharma and Sanskar are at the forefront of Life and not Arth-Kaam. For sustainable development, this philosophy encourages
least use of energy, maximum employment, sensitivity towards environment,
ethics, and the wholesome approach to agriculture. It suggests a decentralized
and self reliant economic and industrial order. There is a major emphasis on
skill development and increased productivity. As per this philosophy, success
of the system is judged on the fact whether the last person in the land is
getting justice, education and basic needs of life. Hence the major emphasis
has to be on farmers and agriculture, small and medium scale industries, small
traders and craftsmen. All organizations, intellectuals, policy makers,
political class and administrators working in the socio-economic field have to
take a note of this.
It
is pleasurable to note that the manifesto of Niti Ayog is giving clear indications in the same direction. It is obvious that this metamorphosis will
not take place all of a sudden. It would be a challenge to bring inherited
economy back to normal state, balance political compulsions, and straighten
administrative machinery. We ought to keep whole lot of patience to see the fruition
of our efforts to take the benefits of development to the lowest strata of
society and enlist their participation in the nation-building. We would like to
see steady increase in their confidence towards nation building exercise. Mudra Bank, Jan Dhan Yojna, voluntary surrender of cooking gas subsidy, Swatch Bharat initiative, and skill
development are some useful initiatives of the present government, in the same
direction. It is essential to get
credible data, both qualitative and quantitative, from the grassroots level to
measure the efficacy of our developmental policies. It is also necessary to
hold fruitful dialogues to
ensure the participation of all in the nation building exercise, and speed up
the execution of the program.
Efficacy
of all the policy measures aimed at changing the destiny of the nation will
very much depend upon the enterprising spirit, capability to cooperate, and the
wisdom of masses. To achieve it, enlightenment
and training of society is a prerequisite. While speaking about
development, population growth is one related aspect, which is much talked
about. We need to seriously ponder our population policy. It must be discussed
whether population is a boon or bane? Whether the current systems and resources
would be adequate to provide employment and basic amenities to masses after 50
years from now? How much manpower would be required to run our systems
effectively? Quiet often, it becomes
mother’s responsibility to bringing up children and inculcating values in them.
Hence diet, healthcare, self-respect, empowerment, enlightenment, opportunities
and freedom to make use of those opportunities by our mothers need to be
ensured by our system. Are our systems turned for the same? What is our
anticipation regarding the condition of our environment after 50 years? Facts
and figures of last two census reports and the imbalances that have come to
notice as a result are being widely discussed. Our present and future is
getting impacted by the same. We need to rise above vote bank politics to formulate
a holistic approach, equally applicable
to all citizens, towards the population policy. Such a population policy
cannot be enforced by our Governments or laws, all alone. Considerable efforts are required to
tune society’s psyche to the same. It would be prudent to think about the same
during policy making exercise.
To
bring about a change in the natural instincts and behavioral patterns of humans,
customary religious practices, and cultural traditions, in accordance with
current times is often, too tricky. Even if this change is appropriate, it
cannot be accomplished by just bringing in a law or making law enforcement
agencies to enforce the law. It never happened this way and it will never
happen this way. It can only be accomplished through a respectful dialogue with
concerned entities. This dialogue and the efforts to enlighten the society
through the dialogue, needs to take place at all the levels be it the government,
administration, media or intellectuals in the society and it should consistently continue before and after such changes.
We should not be guided by cheap popularity or political incentives. What is
truthful and just should be our guiding principle. By adopting a compassionate approach
towards every section of society, we can change their approach through a friendly
and respectable dialogue. The anguish some sections of people felt as a result
of some reasoned judgments could have been avoided. For example, Santhara, peculiar life style of Digambar Acharyas, Bal-Deeksha (initiations
of children as recluses), etc., are some of the age old practices prevalent in
the Jain community. To bring about
changes in such matters without consulting the Acharyas of the respective sects about the reason, importance and
philosophy behind such practices, will affect social cohesion and harmony and
finally harm the nation. It has been a tradition in every sect/religion in our
Country to introspect about their rituals and practices at regular intervals
and attunes such a rituals and practices to current times and circumstances. This
is the healthy way of bringing about necessary changes. All such changes have
always come from within. Any external attempt to bring about such changes has
always ended up only in controversies. Success in any systemic change is achieved
only through changing the social psyche.
Education
system is an important tool for social transformation. In recent years, we have
been observing commercialization of education. Getting more and more expensive,
it is going beyond the reach of an ordinary citizen. Hence the purpose which
education is expected to fulfill, is not taking shape. Apart from imparting formal
education, education also aims at shaping a complete man, who is wise, self
respecting, self reliant, compassionate, efficient and cultured. With this integral approach to education, many
experiments are going on within as well as outside the country. We should take
cognizance of all these experiments. Results from these experiments, and the
suggestion made by various organizations, educationists and panels should form
the basis for all the aspects of education be it curriculum, fee structure or management
of education. Education should be society based. Education should be oriented
towards fulfilling its goal as well as contemporary requirements of society. And
in the light of these limits there should be freedom to chalk out the education
system. To ensure that education is not commercialized; government needs to make
sure that government educational institutions also are run well at all levels.
This process starts with the quality of teachers we have. We need to have effective training, and maintain standards
for teachers. More than anything else, we need teachers who realize their
responsibilities.
However,
the role of parents and society is equally important. Do we tell our children
that it is more important to have a meaningful life than a successful life? Is
our behavior such, which instills the values of truthfulness, justice,
compassion, sacrifice, patience and good behavior? Is our generation ready to tread this path in social and professional
fields with insistence and agility, ignoring petty gains? Do we – the social and
political leadership - and media care to see that our walk and talk leads the society, particularly new
generation, towards national integrity, social harmony and ethical behavior?
To
say that Governance and economy and other systems drive human behavior -“Yatha Raja Tatha Praja”. Hence our
policies should unite the society; caring for the uplift of the weakest link of
the society, they should achieve progress of everyone in the society. We need
fundamental reforms in our electoral practices, administration, tax systems,
public health system, and industrial, educational and agricultural policies to make them more effective and people
oriented. Hostilities by Pakistan, expansionism from China, rising
fundamentalism and chauvinism in the world order, and unfair international
diplomacy, resulting in rise of terrorist outfits like ISIS, are acting as a
catalyst to already complicated and serious internal and external security of
our country. Fostered by external powers and inspired by external ideologies,
some people from within are walking the
path of terrorism. It goes without saying that it is government’s
responsibility to come out with a comprehensive and a firm policy to root out all such problems ones and for all. Ethical
education should be made part of the education policy so as to preserve our
social and cultural values intact and thwart all attempts at destroying our
culture. There is a view that media should be regulated while conserving their
freedom to ensure that no ill
effect, knowingly or unknowingly, prevails in the society. It is a fair to
expect that all the promised dreams are realized and became a reality fast. But
this is also true that governance is driven by the will, quality of thoughts
and organized state of the society. When
a self realized, righteous and holistic society starts walking with
determination on the path towards national glory, the systems and apparatus of nation follow
and become helpful in the transformation. A nation becomes prosperous,
safe and capable only when government, administration and public at large are
on the same page on the issues of identity
of nation, national pride, and credible integrity towards nation, and are ready for constant efforts with focused contemplation.
What
is the chord that can keep our diverse society together? (1) Certainly, it is our eternal culture - Hindu culture - that accepts and respects all forms of diversity
and which precisely forms the nature and value system of every Bharatiya. (2)
The very culture, based on which our ancestors build their lives, toiled hard
to nurture and foster it, and even sacrificed their live for its protection and
honor, even to this day, their glory is a source of inspiration and ideal for
us. (3) This divine motherland
endowed with richest and wealth, who helped us realize the truth that formed
the foundation of that culture and the Dharma
born out of it, whose abundance of divine wealth nurtured us and made us
magnanimous, the love and devotion for whom we inherited from our ancestors,
such motherland of ours, even today has the power to arouse the creative spirit
of every individual of this country. Through these three factors an individual
can easily be assimilated while keeping ones diverse identity of language, region, sect and party
intact. Also, even while safeguarding one’s smaller identity, one becomes part
of the larger social identity. The humanitarian
spirit, vision and philosophy based on the above three factors, the decision in
conformity and equally matched practice is what is called Hindutva.
This
lifestyle of Hindu society, from time immoral, even long before the term Hindu was coined, evolved in keeping
with the time on the basis of above
three factors. The onus of good and bad of this nation ever rusts only on
their shoulders.
For
last 90 years, RSS has been constantly trying to galvanize the energies of
Hindu society for nation building. Sangh founder Dr. Hedgewar had very well
understood that the task of nation and society building cannot be entrusted on
contract. When an efficient and organised society works persistently for the betterment of nation for a long time, then
only the nation becomes prosperous. The mission of RSS is to prepare such workers
who can organize the society for this noble cause. Today, everyone can see the
impact created by Swayamsewaks coming out of the easy and simple modus operandi
of RSS. Now they not only get respect and affection from a grateful society,
but also the recognition of the whole world.
Come on, let us all
become Swayamsewaks and be part of this sacred work, because this the only way to
build the Bharat that the world inevitably looks forward to for a new opening.
The Bharatiya society has to become
perfect and organised on the strength of their eternal identity. Soaked with
the nectar of our Dharmic Values that
ends all divisiveness and is capable of infuse the whole humankind with the
feeling of fraternity by giving them real freedom, let us individually and
collectively endeavor to accord happiness, peace and redemption to human race.
This the way out and we have to do it.
fgUnw fgUnw ,d jgsa
HksnHkko dks ugha
lgs
la?k"kks± ls
nq%[kh txr dks
ekuork dh f'k{kk
nsaAA
ßHkkjr ekrk dh t;Þ
1 Comments
Expect tamil version shortly. . thank u.
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