सभी को नमस्कार,

The world, our planet, is facing an existential challenge by way of climate change. We may not exist, and make no mistake, we don't have another planet to live on. Therefore, the Prime Minister gave a call—a befitting call.

‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’, I started with this campus also. And wherever I go, इसमें दो काम होते हैं। मैं मेरी मां के नाम भी पेड़ लगाता हूं और मेरी धर्मपत्नी की सास के नाम भी लगाता हूं। आप सब मेरा एक अनुरोध मानिए और आज से संकल्प लीजिए, आप भी ऐसा करेंगे। मां के नाम, दादी के नाम, नानी के नाम पेड़ लगायेंगे— यह बहुत बड़े पुण्य का काम होगा। और trust me प्रधानमंत्री जी की जो कॉल है, it is getting real traction और जब आप करोगे, नियमित रूप से ऐसा करोगो, नतीजा बहुत अच्छे आएंगे।

The theme is topical, contemporaneously, it is very relevant: the role of women in Viksit Bharat.  एक जमाना था जिसको मैं हमारा जमाना कहता हूं—1989. I was elected to the Lok Sabha, I was a union minister.

हमारे मुंह से नहीं निकल सकता था, क्या हम विकसित भारत के रास्ते पर जाएंगे। वह भयानक सीन मैंने नजदीकी से देखा है। सोने की चिड़िया कहलाने वाले देश का सोना गिरवी रखा गया, स्विट्जरलैंड के दो बैंकों में। हालात ऐसे थे कि विदेशी संस्थाएं हमें डिसिप्लिन करने आई थीं। कहां से कहां आ गए।

Girls, you are lucky and fortunate, very lucky that we are discussing this today because the Marathon March for Viksit Bharat@2047 is already going on. You are the most important stakeholders in it. You have to drive it. पर हम जो देख रहे हैं, मेरी उम्र के लोग, हम तो वह सपना भी नहीं ले सकते थे जो आज जमीनी हकीकत है। सबसे पहले  It is important to know, what is that we are striving to achieve ? Developed Nation Status—what does it mean? It has not been defined, but it means a mature, sophisticated formal economy.

Number one - We are heading towards it very fast. Number two - a robust industrial ecosystem. The nation is on track. Higher standards of living— सोचा था कभी हर घर में टॉयलेट होगा? सोचा था क्या कभी हर घर में गैस कनेक्शन होगा? सोचा था हर घर में इंटरनेट कनेक्शन होगा? सोचा था हर घर में नल होगा, नल में जल होगा? 140 करोड़ के देश में यह सोचते हुए भी डर लगता था।

जब मैं संसद में आया, हमें 50 गैस कनेक्शन मिलते थे। एक MP की ताकत थी, उसकी 15-17 करोड़ तो needy लोगों को दे दिए। हर किसी को उपलब्ध भी है। कहां से कहां आ गए। हमारा जीडीपी बढ़ रहा है। इन सब चीजों को देखकर हम डेवलप्ड नेशन क्यों नहीं हैं? वर्ल्ड बैंक क्या कह रहा है, India is a spectacular in progress. A shining star, a global destination of investment and opportunity. वर्ल्ड इकोनॉमिक फोरम भी वही कह रहा है।

We are the third largest in purchasing power and, at the moment, the Fifth largest in the global economy. But as rightly pointed out by the Vice-Chancellor, to be a developed nation, our per capita income has to go 7-8 fold. We have to work for that, only then can we become a developed nation.

Economic rise is important because that rise is exponential, unprecedented. Girls, just ten years ago, our economy was among the five fragile economies. We are now in the top five economies in the world, ahead of Canada, UK, and France. आने वाले 2 सालों में जापान और जर्मनी भी पीछे रह जाएंगे। ऐसा जब हो रहा है, तो हमारे सामने चुनौतियां क्या हैं? ऐसी कौन सी चुनौतियां हैं जिनको हमें  anticipate करना चाहिए, neutralize करना चाहिए?

चुनौतियां हैं—anti-national narratives—पूरी दुनिया हमारी तारीफ कर रही है, और कुछ लोग कहते हैं यहां कुछ भी हो सकता है, कुछ भी बोल देते हैं। क्या वह राष्ट्रहित की बात कर रहे हैं? Are they keeping the nation above national interest? their own interest, Self interest? I appeal to you, when it comes to the nation, national interest, and development, we have to set aside political, partisan, and self-interest.

मैंने देखा है, experience किया है कि Boys and Girls के लिए इतनी opportunities हैं, जिसका आप अंदाजा नहीं लगा सकते। फिर भी, selective commitment to Government Jobs, coaching centres is very painful to me. When I see those advertisements on the front page, एक-एक पैसा उस advertisement का उस बच्चे-बच्ची से आता है। Commercialisation of the crudest form. We have to desilo the opportunities. There are opportunities available in the sea, on land, in the sky and in space.

I have been to ISRO, and you cannot imagine what opportunities there are. पहले कहा जाता था कि India sleeping giant है But girls, India is no longer a sleeping giant, it is no longer a country with potential; it is a country that is on the rise. The rise is unstoppable, and it is incremental. It will happen but this is not possible if 50% of the people in this country are not participants.

We cannot achieve the fastest developed nation status without our girls and women participating. They have energy, they have talent. We have to create an ecosystem for their optimal participation. It cannot happen otherwise. The very thought of India as a developed nation without the participation of girls and women is not a rational thinking. आपकी भागीदारी से विकसित भारत का सपना 2047 से पहले पूरा होगा। आज के दिन Women constitute backbone, the spinal strength, of the rural economy, the agro-economy, and the informal economy but they are facing problems, problems that they can't even share.

Therefore, the Prime Minister started a decade ago with a mission, with great passion and commitment, that unless हमारी बेटियां आगे आकर contribute नहीं करेगी भारत का भविष्य उज्जवल हो ही नहीं सकता, जो हजारों साल पहले भारत था We have to attain that status. We are much beyond women empowerment; it has to be women-led empowerment. कितना जबरदस्त काम हुआ है Reservation for women in Parliament, Lok Sabha, and legislatures will be a game-changer. It will revolutionise policy-making. It will put the right people in the right seats for decision-making.

30 साल तक यह नहीं हुआ। प्रयास किए गए थे, पर सफलता नहीं मिली। सफलता मिली क्योंकि इरादा मजबूत था, एकाग्रता थी, निष्ठा थी, और आवश्यकता को महसूस किया गया। यदि हमारी महिलाओं को सशक्त नहीं करेंगे, उनको अधिकार नहीं देंगे, तो देश की जो गाती है, वह तीव्रता से आगे नहीं बढ़ सकती। बहुत कदम उठाए गए हैं, और महिलाओं ने बड़ी ख्याति प्राप्त की है। मुद्रा लोन की बात करूं तो। I have checked up in micro-detail. It has changed the lives of many women, they have gone from job seekers to job givers. Look at any field.

Participation of our girls is blossoming. Girls, let me take you to the Republic Day Parade. It was all your show. On 26th January 2024, आप दिख रहे थे। combat fighter planes को आप उड़ा रही थी। What a great achievement. Because of your participation, we achieved sustainable realisation in terms of development by 2030. पर क्या  हम कह सकते हैं  की आज के दिन की gender disparity नही है? Same qualification, but different pay; better qualification, but not equal opportunities. That mindset has to change, the ecosystem has to be equitable. Inequities have to be decimated.

और जहां औरतें और लड़कियां अपने आप को सुरक्षित महसूस नहीं करतीं, वह समाज सभ्य समाज नहीं है। वह डेमोक्रेसी कलंकित है, वह हमारी प्रगति में सबसे बड़ा अवरोधक है। और आज के दिन The fear in the minds of our girls and women is a cause for concern. It is a national concern. How can, in the land of Bharat, girls and women be unsafe? How can their dignity be outraged? How can there be rape and murder in hospitals when girl doctor is in the service of humanity, saving the lives of others? This is painful.

It happened in 2012. It happened in the '80s also in Mathura, a lady who was molested in a police station but acquittor was there on technical grounds. इसलिए आज हम एक चौराहे पर खड़े हैं भारत के राष्ट्रपति ने, राष्ट्रपति is a tribal woman who has seen grassroot reality, she was constrained to express herself. I appeal to all the girls to read it. I will share the copy of the statement with the principal.

What the President has said—enough is enough. Let us call it: "Enough is enough." I want this clarion call to be a national call. I want everyone to be a participant in this call. Let us resolve to create a system—zero tolerance.

When you make a girl or woman a victim, you are injuring our civilization. You are injuring sublimity. You are behaving like a monster. You are exemplifying barbarity to an extreme, draconian level. Nothing should come in the way. I want everyone in the country to heed the same sage and timely caution by the President of India.

I am pained, and somewhat surprised that someone holding a position in the Supreme Court Bar, a Member of Parliament, acting in a manner and What does he say! “A Symptomatic Malaise," and suggested that such incidents are commonplace, What a shame! Words fail me in condemning such incidents.

It is doing great injustice to the high position but I am glad, members of the Bar have come in support of our girls and women. What do you do? For partisan interest, for self-interest? You take a stance leveraging your authority to perpetrate such kind of heinous injustice to our girls and women? Let me tell you, girls, 1975 was a draconian period.

Emergency was clamped; more than lakhs of people were put behind bars. The darkest period of Indian democracy. Terror was unleashed by then Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi to save her seat. Everyone caved in but Suprme Court Bar did not cave in. The President of the Supreme Court then questioned Chief Justice A. N. Ray, we are under challenge of  judgement of nine High Courts.

The nine High Courts, in one voice, held fundamental rights survive even in an emergency. Justice A. N. Ray, the then Chief Justice, formed a bench of five judges. The then President of the Supreme Court Bar went to him to have only the senior most five judges that is how Justice A. N. Ray, Justice Beg, Justice Chandrachud Senior, Justice Bhagwati and Justice H R Khanna. Justice H R Khanna, the alone dissenter was part of that bench, we could know the real pain through dissenting view of Justice H. R. Khanna.

A leading newspaper in the US wrote that democracy has been derailed in India in its 18th year. Should it ever come back, there will be a statue in honour of H. R. Khanna but H. R. Khanna was part of that bench because the President of the Supreme Court Bar, even in the face of emergency, took a stand. Here, one says it is Symptomatic Malaise and incidents are commonplace.

I strongly condemn it. The relieving feature is that members of the bar have risen in unison to come in favour of girls and women. What can be a greater injustice to humanity? We trivialise the suffering of our girls? No, not any longer. Girls, give up your fear. Your fear helps those monsters, do not cave in.

We must now have an ecosystem so deterrent that no one dares to outrage your dignity. The nation is yours. यह जो हवन हो रहा है, पूरे देश में विकसित भारत के लिए, इस हवन कुण्ड में सबसे महत्वपूर्ण आहुति आपकी है। गांधी जी ने कहा था, “बच्चे को पढ़ाओ, सुधर जाएगा; बेटी को पढ़ाओ, समाज सुधर जाएगा।”

I call upon each of you, girls, to be financially independent. That is quintessentially important for you to unleash your energy and potential. Do it, and I am sure you will see the change immediately.

Your determination alone will help us reach the status of a developed nation, certainly by 2047, if not earlier. But if you get determined, trust me, it will be much earlier. So, take a big leap.

The Uniform Civil Code is a constitutional ordinance. It is in the directive principles. The Supreme Court has severely held that it is being delayed but the Uniform Civil Code, which has been on the shelf for too long, is a small measure of justice for your segment. Look around and see what it means.  It will help in several ways, but mainly it will help your gender. My earnest appeal: always keep the nation above everything else—self-interest or political interest.

We see day in and day out, people saying all kinds of things, only to taint our institutions, run down our country, and defame our country. We cannot afford to be spectators in silence. Don’t observe silence. What has happened in 10 years is beyond my dream and the contemplation of people my age.  The respect India has earned globally—I never saw it. You are feeling it. Our rise is indigestible in some quarters of the world, but, painfully, it is indigestible even among some of us.

You are the warriors of it. Your voice will count. Raise your voice because you have platforms now, and I am sure you shall be doing it. Also, challenge those who don’t believe in the nation, challenge those who belittle our civilisation.

हम भारतीय हैं, भारतीयता हमारी पहचान है। हजारों  साल की महान संस्कृति और विरासत पर हमें गर्व है। हमारे वेद, उपनिषद, और ग्रंथों में जो ज्ञान है, वह दुनिया में कहीं नहीं है और दुनिया प्रशंसा कर रही है। लेकिन कुछ लोग छोटे हित के लिए, राजनीतिक हित के लिए, कैसे-कैसे बातें करते हैं। सही मन में कहूं तो एक व्यक्ति ने गांव से कहा कि बावले ऐसी बात क्यों कर रहे हैं? इनको कोई रोकता क्यों नहीं? इनकी समझ में नहीं आता क्या? किस सड़क पर चल रहे हैं? कैसा डिजिटाइजेशन का महत्व समझ रहे हैं सबका आनंद लेते हुए कहते हैं कोई प्रगति नहीं है! They are turning Nelson's eye to the phenomenal progress we have had.

Never let down those who are in the service of the nation. जो देश की सेवा मे है वह हमारी सीमा पर भी हैं।  We have to take pride in them. Never let them down. कुछ लोग optical illusions दिखाते हैं यह प्रोग्रेस कोई जादू नहीं है कि फटाफट फटाफट आ जाए Progress has to be firm. It can’t be on quicksand. Progress has to be futuristic, progress has to be lasting.

Progress is not in empowering your pocket, progress is empowering you to empower yourself. तभी यह देश में बड़ा काम हो रहा है। 10 साल से जो रहा है सोचिए कोई छुट्टी नहीं आप अंदाजा नहीं लगा सकते कितना काम हो रहा है। यह जरूर आपको कहूंगा कि सिस्टम को कुछ लोग hijack कर लेते हैं बड़ी होशियारी से वह चाहे पार्लियामेंट हो या न्यायपालिका हो और कैसे करते हैं  They employ a mechanism: proximity to power.

Premistone, being from the same alma mater, from the same college, having a similar group. We have to be watchful of them. When you generate proximity to power to gain personally, you are engineering a system spinally.          

Experience and avail the opportunities that are around. Girls, I have no doubt. I am confident. I am optimistic. We will be a developed nation sooner than 2047. Collectively rebuke forces within and without that are inimical to girls and women. आज के दिन सड़क पर आपका हर भाई है, देश के हर कोने में आपका भाई खड़ा है आपको बचाने के लिए। यह अब नतीजा आएगा। We cannot afford a society where you have fear, your sleepless night. You feel constrained in serving the public.

 

बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद!

JK/RC/SM

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