Vande Mataram! DK Congress Members Celebrate 130th Birth Anniversary of Pt Jawaharlal Nehru
Mangaluru: It is Children’s Day 2018- and the nation is celebrating the 130th birth anniversary of the first prime minister of independent India, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru. Pt Nehru, who was born on November 14, 1889, was known for his love for children and was fondly called Chacha Nehru. He once said: “The children of today will make the India of tomorrow. The way we bring them up will determine the future of the country”. Before 1964, Children’s day was celebrated in India on November 20, which was observed as the Universal Children’s Day by the United Nations. But after Nehru’s death in 1964, the nation decided to celebrate his birthday as Bal Diwas (Children’s Day) to honour his memory.
But locally at a time when Jawaharlal Nehru’s legacy is being attacked by the BJP led Central Govt under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, the DK Congress members went forward in celebrating Nehru’s birth anniversary on November 14 at the Congress Office-Kadri, Mangaluru in a big way to highlight the relevance of the thought and contribution of the first Prime Minister of India. The programme with lyrics of “Vande Matharam”, followed by welcome address by former MUDA Chairman Kodijal Ibrahim, who also briefed about the significance of observing the birth anniversary of Nehru.
Addressing the audience, Congress senior leader Veerappa Moily said“On the birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the best way for us to honour him, is by rededicating ourselves to Freedom, Democracy, Secularism & Socialism. These were the core values he believed in and fought for. These are the core values that bind our nation together. Nehru’s contribution to India’s freedom struggle and during his tenure as prime minister should not be forgotten. We should pay respect to Nehru by recalling his contribution to our freedom struggle and during his tenure as Prime Minister. Even though our central govt led by PM Modi is not much keen in celebrating Nehru’s birthday, but we as Congress members should keep our tradition and never cease to celebrate Nehru’s birthday, no matter what”.
“It’s sad to note that PM Modi is trying to destroy the tradition of celebrating birthdays of great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and many other leaders. We as congress members need to keep our tradition and never stop celebrating anniversaries/birthdays of our great Congress leaders who fought for our freedom, which BJP leaders have forgotten. BJP went ahead and erected a huge statue of Vallabhai Patel, even though he was against having RSS in India, but it was Nehru who stopped the ban of RSS in India. We need liberalism to live in this country, and not the ideals of BJP. Our Country is still alive and strong, and we should thank Nehru for his efforts in this matter. We need to retain our congress culture. Nehru developed a scientific thinking, especially for children and therefore children respect him. BJP destroyed the planning commission, which was a bad move. Our neighbouring countries are trying to stay away from India, thanks to PM Modi for his attitude. My sincere request is that we as Congress members should see that we celebrate happy occasions of our great Congress leaders without fail” added Moily.
Hinting at the small portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru placed in the Congress office hall by the party members, in a lighter vein, Veerappa Moily said that next time please make sure you place a larger size portrait of Nehru because he was a man of larger respect and stature. Addressing the audience former minister Ramanath Rai said, “As Congress members, we have always celebrated our great leaders birthdays/anniversaries, and today is no exception. We should know that India’s freedom was gained through efforts by the Congress, and not BJP. They should be grateful rather for that. Our local BJP members wanted to rename Nehru Maidan as Kendra/Central Maidan, but we never allowed it to happen, instead, we went forward and built a nice entrance gate with Nehru Maidan logo on it”.
“We should not forget the contribution done by Nehru to our country, even though BJP is ignoring it. While the BJP led central govt is trying to stop all the celebrations pertaining to the Congress, we should stand strong and do whatever we can to keep our tradition in celebrating any occasions related to Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and others. Let us stay in unity, and keep our Congress tradition strong. And remember that Congress Samskrithi (Culture) is Nation’s Samskrithi (Culture)” added Ramanath Rai.
Congress leaders/members namely Kodijal Ibrahim, Sadashiva Rao, P V Mohan, Ishwar Das, Ashraf, Sashidhar Hegde, Veerappa Moily’s son Harsha Moily, were among others present on the dais The programme was graced by M corporators, former mayors and other Congress party members.