Finally a good speech from a prime minister for nation- Modi's independence day speech

Perhaps this is the first time in almost 15 years I spent my time to watch speech of a prime minister on independence day. 

I am sorry if I look negative but during all these years, the speeches from Manmohan Singh was stale, useless, boring, far beyond from truth and reality. 

I remember, few year back when Manmohan Singh was giving speech in English, one journalist ask question in Hindi and rold " Sir, this question is related to farmer and I request you to reply in Hindi"

It was so embarrassing for a prime minister. I did not like Manmohan Singh at all and it always gave feeling to me that he is a very weak, a person without any administrative power, knowledge, competency and capabilities, a person who does not have any pride for the nation and for him, being in the position only matters.

The independence day speech is not just a formality. A nation which has survived almost 68 years after gaining "independence" from British, slowly the charm of "independence" and "freedom" are vanishing. People are loosing trust in government, governance and the belief that we are independent, it is important to make people believe that Prime Minister, the actual head of the state is speaking to them directly. I think Modi did it well. 

He gave maximum emphasis on increasing productivity, increasing export and decreasing import. This is essentially important for us, for our national building. He talked about rural development, environment, female foeticide, gender ratio, naxalism and youth development. He was impartial, he was positive, he was independent. He spoke as a prime minister of India, he did not speak as a BJP or RSS spokesperson. That was a learning for everybody including, we executives working in important positions. 

Possibly, there will be chaos by opposition parties including congress (as usual) saying he did not take name of this and that and so on. We must understand that it is not a thanksgiving speech. It may not be possible to include everything a political party want. We, the people wanted to hear something positive, something different than a typed, written speech, we wanted a PM should speak from hi heart and Modi did it well. He spoke in Hindi (if we would have declared Tamil, Telugu or any other Indian language as national language and if PM would have given speech in that particular language; still I would have been happy. Please note I am not an anti English. Being a MNC corporate executive doing job for bread and butter, I have to use English as a language of communication and I love that too but when matter of nation comes, it should be national language not the language spoken and understood by few handful people). and that was a matter of pride. I always wanted that our PM should speak in national language. He spoke without a bulletproof cabin. If you are afraid from death, you should not be a national leader. 

He not only mentioned policies and plans, he also mentioned Shri Lal Bahadur Shastriji, the great Prime Minister of India, he thanked all the government so far. What a fabulous heart and strategy!. He did not mention Nehru- the womanizer accidental prime minister of India and he did the best thing. However, I was expecting mention of Sardar Patel in details and also of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji, Netaji Subhaschandra Boseji and Bhagat Singh. But as I said, we cannot complain and expect that every name should be included. He talked about naxalite issue and how he want to see naxalite coming back to mainstream life. We have to go long way and we need to do lot of things. He said, Be it plastics or cars or satellites or agricultural products, come, MAKE IN INDIA. This may be signalling for FDI he also said that the product should be made caring environment but I doubt his intention after this government initiated action against Greenpeace, approval to TN nuclear plant and so on.

There are positive responses to Modi's speech too. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw says "What a stirring n awe inspiring Independence Day address from PM Modi. It touched the emotional chords in every one of us"

Yogendra Yadav of Aam Aadmi Party says "PM Speech. Some positives: focus on manufacturing, skill development, attention to toilets, reminder of SAARC"

Subramanian Swami says"Namo speech was brilliantly structured to make the common man feel he was talking to him."

Here is the top 10 quote from Modi's speech as reported on NDTV.com

10 THINGS THAT PM MODI SAID IN HIS SPEECH

1. To all Indians celebrating our Independence Day, greetings from the Pradhan Sewak. I stand before you not as Pradhan Mantri (Prime Minister) but Pradhan Sevak (Prime servant)
2. It is a tribute to Indian democracy that a person from a poor family, an ordinary family, is today addressing the nation from the Red Fort.
3. I tell the world - Come, Make In India. Sell anywhere but manufacture here. We have the skill and talent.
4. All previous governments have a hand in developing India. State governments have a hand in it as well. I offer my respect to all previous governments and Prime Ministers.
5. We want to move forward not on the basis of our majority but on consensus.The session that just ended reflects our thinking. We don't believe in the force of majority. We worked with everyone. The credit for this goes not to the PM but the MPs and the opposition.
6. I am an outsider to Delhi. But an outsider came to Delhi and got an insider view. I was surprised. It was as if in one government there were different governments.
7. We have seen instances of communal violence for too long. Till when will this go on? Be it caste or communal violence, they stall the growth of the nation.
8. Have we seen our sex ratio? Who is creating this imbalance? Not God. I appeal to the doctors not to kill the girl child in the mother's womb. I request the parents not to kill daughters because they want a son. Don't kill daughters in the womb, it is a blot on 21st century India. I have seen families where one daughter serves parents more than five sons.
9. The world used to think we are a land of snake charmers and black magic. But our youth has surprised the world with its IT skills.  
10. Our heads hang in shame when we hear about rapes. Parents ask about daughters but did anyone dare ask their sons. After all, the rapist is someone's son. As parents, have we asked our sons where he is going? Why not put same yardstick for sons too?

Whatever it is, I must say that this is a brilliant speech, It is too early to come to a judgment for a just 3 months old government. But no doubt, he has given us hope, he has done something different. 

Govind

Mumbai

August 15, 2014