by Haryananewswire
CHANDIGARH, JAN
30
Lok Sabha Speaker Mrs Meira
Kumar has said that the country has achieved political freedom, but a lot is
yet to be done for economic and social freedom. Mrs Meira Kumar was
delivering Third Ch. Ranbir Singh Memorial Lecture at Mahrishi Dayanad
University in Rohtak today.
Mrs. Kumar said that after attaining independence, there were three points
before the country- Political Independence, Economic Independence and Social
Independence. Politically, country is free today, but economically we see a
large gap between the incomes. There are few persons, who are very rich and on
the other hand there are lakhs and crores of persons, who live from hand to
mouth. Socially, the caste system, untouchability, feeling of high and low have
divided our society, besides a number of other social evils. To realise the
dreams of our freedom fighters, we have to build a society free from such
discriminatory aspects.
Thanking Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Hooda for inviting her to deliver Third
Ch. Ranbir Singh Memorial lecture, Mrs. Kumar said that Mr. Ranbir Singh was a
a man of values. He had full faith in the ideals of truth, love and
non-violence as propagated by Gandhiji. Just at the age of 15 years, he jumped
into the freedom struggle on the call of Mahatma Gandhi. He went to jail and
was the last person to be released from the jail, after India had got freedom.
Soon after, he was made member of the Constituent Assembly where he
played an important role.
Talking about the Parliamentary system of democracy in the country, Mrs. Kumar
said our Constitution is very unique in the sense that it has empowered the
weakest among the week in the society with the power of vote and those who are
wealthy and strong come to him every five years with folded hands begging for
his vote in their favour. His right decision of voting can give new direction
to the politics in the country. She was very elated while mentioning that in
our country, the poor, particularly women in some parts of the country celebrate
election day as a day of festival by wearing new clothes and going to polling
booths singing all the way. The people of other countries are amazed to see how
more than 70 crore people vote in the elections in India.
Paying her tributes to Ch. Ranbir Singh Hooda, Mrs. Kumar said that in December
1985, when she went to Parliament for the first time as M.P., Ch. Ranbir Singh
blessed her by placing his hand over her head. It was his hand of blessing that
has guided my way to success and like Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, I also revere
him as a fatherly figure.
Mrs. Kumar called upon the students and the children present in Tagore
Auditorium of the university to work hard during studies. “Yours parents have
given a golden chance to you for studying and before doing anything else you
should always think as to what you can do for your parents”, she said.
Earlier, welcoming Mrs. Meira kumar, Haryana Chief Minister Mr. Hooda said that
today it is a historic day for us, that we have amidst us a personality like
Mrs. Meira Kumar on a day, when we are remembering Gandhiji also on his
martyrdom day. “My father Ch. Ranbir Singh was a Member of Parliament, when
illustrious father of Mrs. Kumar, Babu Jagjivan Ram was there. My father used
to tell me that he always got blessings from Babu Jagjivan Ram, who was a man
of strong convictions. Today Mrs. Kumar, as Speaker Lok Sabha, is trying to
take all the members of House with her. She left her high profile job to serve
the country”, he added. About Ch. Ranbir Singh Mr. Hooda said that personally,
socially and politically, he was an ideal person. His thinking was always
positive and constructive even towards his opponents. In the Constituent
Assembly, he raised the voice for the poor, the backward and the farmers. He
was like a God to me and I always revered him and sought his guidance. He
remained member of seven different Houses, which is a unique achievement of his
life. He remained in eight jails, out of which four are now in Pakistan and
four in India. It was during his time as Irrigation Minister of Punjab that the
work of Bhakra Dam was accomplished.
Earlier Vice Chancellor of Mahrishi dayanand University Dr. R.P. Hooda thanked
Mrs. Meira Kumar for accepting the request to deliver Third Ch. Ranbir Singh
Memorial Lecture. About Haryana’s progress, he said that the state has
progressed in every field under the dynamic leadership of Mr. Bhupinder Singh
Hooda.
Mrs Meira Kumar also inaugurated Abhilasha - Kasturba Gandhi Women Hostel
Complex, and Swaraj Bhawan in the premises of the university. She also unveiled
the statue of Ch. Ranbir Singh at Swaraj Bhawan. She also went around the Photo
Gallery and was very happy to see the photos of Ch. Ranbir Singh
with the leaders of yesteryears like Dr. Rajender Prasad, Pt. Jawahar Lal
Nehru, Mrs Indira Gandhi, Mr Rajiv Gandhi, Babu Jagjivan Ram and
others.
Those present on this occasion included Haryana Chief Minister Mr. Bhupinder
Singh Hooda, Minister Mrs. Geeta Bhukal, MPs Mr Shadi Lal Batra and Mr
Deepender Singh Hooda, MLAs Mr. Bharat Bhushan Batra, Shakuntla Khatak, Aftab
Ahmad, Mr Kishan Hooda, former Minister Mrs. Prasanni Devi, Dean Mr. R.
Vinayak, and the family members of Chief Minister and others prominent
personalities of the area.
No comments:
Post a Comment