Unity of Minds - original script of APJ Kalam Speech on

55th Independence day

Unity Of Minds
'Any act by anyone anywhere in India that runs counter to the eternal values -- non-violence,
tolerance, acceptance of all religions and different ways of life, search for truth and fearlessness
would pose a threat to the fabric of free Indian nation.'
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Following is the full text of the President's address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day.

My dear citizens of India,

On the eve of the 55th anniversary of our Independence, I have great pleasure in offering you my best
wishes for your well-being and happiness. My salutations to all of you both in India and abroad.
May I extend a special word of gratitude to the men of our defence who guard our frontiers on the
land, on the sea and in the air and paramilitary forces. May I also convey my special appreciation to
our farmers who toil on the fields, technicians who keep the wheels of our industry moving, teachers
who create knowledge products to the society and doctors, engineers, scientists, technologists and
other professionals and administrators who are the prime movers of national development. May I wish
the youth of India whose purposeful hard work with sweat will be a major transforming force for
prosperous India.
I met some of the freedom fighters a few days ago at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Each and every one of
them was the live force for our freedom movement. On this day, I salute all men and women of India
who fought for our freedom and sacrificed their lives to achieve our Independence. Seeding a great
vision and an indomitable spirit to achieve India's freedom took place around 1857. For 90 years,
there were a number of intensive struggles for freedom. Many of our people and leaders were in jail
and their sufferings got transformed into freedom movement, with national ethos under the leadership
of Mahatma Gandhi. I have tried to capture the essence of the freedom movement. Two aspects have
come out: as a result of supreme sacrifices and dedicated and focused efforts, we got our
Independence. The second aspect is that the vision driven movement itself created many leaders in
different spheres of politics, economics, industry, science, arts and culture.
After Independence, India has made significant achievements in agriculture and food production,
energy, healthcare, education and various fields of science and technology. Particularly we have
made our mark in the international arena in the fields of pharmaceuticals, information technology,
mass media and communication, space, defence and nuclear science.
Similar to the first vision, which created a movement to achieve freedom with unity of minds of our
people and the unity of purpose in actions, we need a second vision, which will integrate people from
all walks of our society towards a common purpose. The second vision of our nation is to transform it
from the present developing status to a developed nation by integrated actions simultaneously in the
areas of agriculture and food processing, education and healthcare, infrastructure development
including power, information and communication technologies, and critical technologies. This greater
vision will aim to alleviate poverty, illiteracy and unemployment. When the minds of the people of our
country are unified and fused towards this vision, the dormant potential will manifest as a mammoth
power leading to a happy and prosperous life of a billion people. This vision of the nation will also
remove the conflicts arising out of differences and small thinking.
Dear citizens, I would like to reiterate that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. It is not an
international issue. India is ready for bilateral dialogue once the cross border terrorism is brought to a
complete end. Normal election process is on in Jammu and Kashmir. It is essential to ensure its
successful completion and dawn of peace in Jammu and Kashmir.
We also have many challenges in front of us. We have to find a solution to the repeated droughts and
floods; we have to eradicate communal and other divisive clashes sprouting in certain parts and
remove the pains of our people whether it is in Jammu and Kashmir or in any other part of our
country; we also have to find a permanent solution to combat terrorism.
Let us now look at a long-term problem. It is paradoxical to see floods in one part of our country while
some other parts face drought. This drought - flood phenomenon is a recurring feature. The need of
the hour is to have a water mission which will enable availability of water to the fields, villages, towns
and industries throughout the year, even while maintaining environmental purity. One major part of the
water mission would be networking of our rivers. Technological and project management capabilities
of our country can rise to the occasion and make this river networking a reality with long term planning
and proper investment. In addition, the vast sea around us can help by providing potable water
through desalination as a cost effective technology. There are of course short term techniques such
as water harvesting by revitalizing rural ponds, water recycling to water conservation. Such
programmes should have a large scale people participation even at the conceptual and project
planning stages. The entire programme should revolve around economic viability leading to continued
prosperity for our people with larger employment potential, environmental sustainability, grass root
level motivation and benefit sharing.
I would now like to share with you friends, another crucial requirement and necessity for our country.
We cannot sustain a second vision for the country without Unity of Minds of all our people. Our great
strength is our pluralistic tradition and civilisational heritage of nearly 3000 years. I have always been
asking myself what the strength of our heritage is. A unique fusion has taken place with multiple
cultures, religions and the way of life of many parts of the world and that has become the foundation
of the Indian life. One can trace from 1857 to date, the type of good experiences we have had and
also the strife resulting out of the differences in thoughts.
I have just now returned from Gujarat after interactions with various cross sections of people, leaders,
officials and rehabilitation workers in the areas affected by recent disturbances and earthquake. I also
visited the Sabarmati Ashram which was established by Mahatma Gandhi for the purpose of our
countrymen to carry on the search for truth and develop fearlessness. I sat in silence for a while in the
Ashram and remembered the life of Gandhiji. One dominant thought came to my mind. If we can go
above our own personal hardships and see the problems of others and decide to work for a larger
cause, then there is natural elevation of our minds. When we are lax in this, then our level of thinking
goes down. I felt confident that all of us can be elevated to the level of noble minds, if we just decide
to understand others and to practice tolerance. I realized that Gujarat has given the noble leader -
Mahatma Gandhi, unifier of the nation - Vallabhbhai Patel and the great visionary in science and
technology - Vikram Sarabhai and many more. Time has come for every one of us to put the thoughts
of these great souls into action for nation's welfare.
Non-violence, tolerance, acceptance of all religions and different ways of life, search for truth and
fearlessness are the values the Mahatma taught us and they are the cornerstones of our civilisational
heritage and, therefore, of Indian polity. Any act by anyone anywhere in India that runs counter to
these eternal values would pose a threat to the fabric of free Indian nation which was born and
nurtured by the supreme sacrifices of countless noble souls. We should all work together to achieve
the mission for Unity of Minds to preserve what we so preciously earned and reach greater heights in
the future.
When I interact with school children and youth, wherever I go, one question comes often. They ask
me "who are our role models?" Parents and teachers have to show them by example to live as
enlightened citizens. Children also look for role models at national level in different fields. I have
described earlier the role models from Gujarat. Each state of our country has many such examples of
the past. It is now time we create more role models from the present. I suggest that members of our
Parliament and Legislatures can shape the future of our children by becoming good role models.
Parliament and Legislatures have a crucial role in giving the vision of developed India and value
based polity. Our children should see the members of the Parliament debating the vision of developed
India, providing action plans and putting forth great thoughts and challenges to them. Looking at the
national leaders, the children will find their role models for their development and growth.
I am sure, our leadership and our people can achieve the second vision of developed India. Let us
take a vow on this Independence Day that the nation is more important compared to any individual,
party or organisation.
I pray to the Almighty for Unity of Minds and our success in every aspect of life.
'Jai Hind'