Dear Young Friends,

You must have watched the debate on the Confidence Motion in the Parliament on 21-22 July 2008. This two day session produced some of the best discourses in the parliamentary history. It showed how Indian democracy has become vibrant, where difficult and complex issues are discussed and decisions are arrived at through debate. The Parliament is the highest panchayat of the country. It is for you to emulate the culture of discourse on difficult issues - I urge my young friends to learn from our young leaders who pave the path for a new debate culture. Young friends, arrive at solutions through dialogue, there is no better way to usher in the peace process. Debate is the biggest weapon that a democracy provides. It is my dream that the culture of debate is revived and used extensively to arrive at solutions based on consensus, right from panchayat, taluk, district to even the higher echelons.

I am sure you have read about the Quit India Movement which was launched under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi on 9th August 1942. The purpose of the Movement was to set in place a series of non-violent activities hopefully leading up to the long awaited Independence. A quote by Gandhi “We shall either free India or die in the attempt; We shall not live to see the perpetuation of our slavery”, gave rise to the slogan of ‘Do or Die’ which soon became popular among the Indian people. This was a simple way of stating the importance of regaining independence, yet the movement was peaceful. All the major leaders of the time were put behind bars, they sacrificed in the biggest way possible, which made the period between 1942-46 a defining time in India’s struggle for freedom. The leaders fought unitedly just the masses supported them unhesitatingly, and ultimately the British had to free our motherland. The youth of today should emulate the way our leaders fought for Independence - which I may remind, was not only against the British, but also against illiteracy, poverty and backwardness.

Today our fight is equally difficult - against inequality prevailing in the society. We need to pool in all our resources and put together all our efforts to motivate the youth to think constructively for a young empowered nation. Just by condemning the terrorist and communal activities does not take us anywhere. We will have to attack the root cause of the problem and try to solve it. The terrorism and communalism does not have any religion. It does not belong to any region. It does not help any one in any way - it kills the innocent and kills dreams of a peaceful nation. History has proved that only dialogue can win while violence of any kind can only aggravate pain.

Jai Hind.

(Dr Shakeel Ahmad Khan)