Speech for the 71th Republic Day of India celebration - 27th January 2019.
Guest of Honour Honourable Dr. David Musabayana, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministers, Mayor of city of Harare His Worship Councillor Herbert Gomba
Members of Parliament present here
Excellencies, Distinguished Guest, Ladies and gentlemen,
I take this privilege to welcome you all to the 71st Republic Day celebration of India. This is the occasion to commemorate the values enshrined in the constitution of our Republic and the occasion to reaffirm our commitment to justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. 2020 is special year for us in that Government of India has decided to celebrate our constitution the whole year highlighting its various aspects through myriad activities. For this reason, I will dwell in some length on the ideals of the constitution of India.
The Constitution of India begins with “We the people…. and ends with ‘’gave to ourselves this Constitution”. The core value enshrined in Indian constitution, therefore, is one that upholds the supremacy of the people of India. The constitution incorporates in it the centuries old values of the society of India which include, among others pluralism, tolerance, dialogue, mutual respect for each other, while on the other embraces the essential elements of the democratic concepts of the modern times. It is this wisdom of our constitution fathers to synthesize these two core values that have made Indian constitution withstand the test of times though the last seven decades and gives birth to a nation where the minds of its people are without fear.
Allow me to quote Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the chief architect of Indian constitution, “If We wish to maintain democracy not merely in form but also in fact, what must we do? The first thing in my judgment we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives”.
In 2019, more than 800 million people of India voted to elect the 17th Parliament of India. This was the first election when voters born in the 21st century contributed to electing a new Parliament. Being the biggest democracy, our election process were sometimes chaotic, but we have learnt to maintain order in chaos. In India, we do not have a harmonised election like in Zimbabwe. This means that all the 28 States have their own cycles of election as a result of which every year we have at least 2-3 States going into elections. The transition of power, however, over the last seven decades, be it at the federal or at the Provincial level, has invariably been smooth. The losing party accepts the verdict of the people with grace and dignity. I recall that in the last General election, even before the election results were declared by the Election Commission, the leader of the Opposition Party Mr. Rahul Gandhi congratulated our Prime Minister Mr. Narender Modi on his victory.
India is a democracy where the issues that impact most to the common people such as farmers, prices of tomatoes, potatoes and onion determine the rise and fall of local governments.
Excellencies, Distinguished Guest, ladies and Gentlemen, Speaking of cooperative democracy, I recall an address in Indian Parliament by former Prime Minister late Atal Vajpayi. In that address he said that in the early 1990s, when Late PV. Narasimharao was India’s Prime Minister and he was the leader of the Opposition party; he was asked by the Prime Minister to represent India in Geneva to defend India’s position on certain issues raised by one of our neighbors in the UN in Geneva. You are all aware India has exciting neighborhood. He said, many in the neighbouhood wondered what kind of democratic system is this that the Opposition party leader is going to defend the country in the UN Forum. Critics at home including his own party men were equally critical saying he will be made scapegoat. Despite all this, Atal Vajpayiji said he went and defended India’s position. That is the idea of India. ‘We the people of India’ are not SAME, but we are ONE. We speak not of sameness but oneness. That is the spirit of our constitution. And today we celebrate this spirit.
Despite political and ideological differences, the values of our constitution continue to remind our leaders that they ultimately serve the people of India. In several occasions including in the above case, both the ruling and the Opposition parties have come together and stood as one when the nation is faced with challenges emanating both from natural calamity or external aggression.
The constitution of India also enshrines provisions that enable us to build strong institutions to safeguard the constitution itself. They include constitution bodies such as independent Judiciary, independent Election Commission, Union Public Service etc. The year 2019 was significant in that Supreme Court of India pronounced several landmark judgments that positively impact and protect the rights of its citizens. Peaceful protest and democtrations against the policies of the Government are seen on the streets of India on daily basis. We do not consider them as signs of weakness of governance or government but as signs of confidence of India’s vibrant democracy.
India today has 2599 registered political parties (with 8 national parties, 53 state parties and 2538 un-recognized parties), 100,000 registered newspapers, 902 TV channels, 1652 languages. The figures go on. They are indeed sign of our flourishing democracy. The unfaltering young democracy of India has demonstrated to the world that people can be governed with freedom. That it is possible to achieve inclusive economic growth without sacrificing democracy and diversity, without compromising the values of pluralism, dialogue and tolerance which are the core values of our society.
And today, we celebrate the constitution that accommodates these values. Inclusiveness entails huge responsibility and challenge. But over all these years, this has emerged as our strength and not weakness. This is a celebration of unity in diversity. With more than 100 amendments in the last 70 years, Indian Constitution is a growing constitution, a learning constitution that accommodates the aspiration of the people of India as demanded by changing times of the modern world.
ladies and gentlemen, In the address to the nation on the eve of the RD, my President said, “Our constitution gave us rights as citizens of a free democratic nation, but at the same time placed on us the responsibility to always adhere to the central tenets of our democracy-justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. By doing so, we will be adding a meaningful dimension to our celebration of 150 birth anniversary of Gandhiji”.
Speaking on role of Government and Opposition in a cooperative democracy, he said and I quote “Gandhiji’s talisman for deciding whether an act is right or wrong also applies to the functioning of our democracy. Government and opposition both have important roles to play. While giving expression to their political ideas, both must move forward in tandem to ensure that development of the country and welfare of its people are promoted consistently”.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
2020 is an important year for India and Africa as the fourth edition of the India Africa Summit Forum (IAFS-IV) will take place in later part of the year. India’s commitment to the friendship and partnership with Africa has been spelt out in the 10 guiding principles presented by my Prime Minister in Ugandan Parliament in July 2018. The upcoming important event will not only reinforce these principles but provide a platform for deeper engagement with Africa and bilateral engagements between our leaders. We look forward to this event.
As India celebrates our Republic Day, i take this opportunity to reaffirm India’s commitment to the friendship and relationship with Zimbabwe. Iago in Shakespeare’s Othello said and I quote “But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve. For daws to peck at. I am not what I am,” But i assure the Government and the people of Zimbabwe, I am what I am and we stand by you. Our relationship has been built on both tangible and intangible foundations that include our shared history, shared values of democracy that uphold the supremacy of people and inclusiveness as reflected in our respective constitutions.
India re-affirms its commitment to stand by Zimbabwe in nurturing these values to make Zimbabwe a peaceful, inclusive and prosperous nation. We assure our support in achieving your vision 2030.
India and Zimbabwe continued to remain engaged in 2019 with exchanges of several Ministerial level and high level business delegations. India also continues to support Zimbabwe in our development partnership and capacity building endeavours. They include three projects in energy sector, Technology centres (waterfalls and HIT), supply of equipments and medicines, training programme with 219 slots, scholarships etc. New programmes in capacity building specific to Zimbabwe have been added this year. They include training of Zimbabwean police in management of crowd and Riot control, Training in Rural Development to complement the devolution efforts of the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe, ICT and Agriculture. These will take place very soon.
In 2019, we have also added a new dimension to our engagement, Indian corporate have been supportive and heartily giving back to the society. This was manifested particularly during the Idai Cyclone in early 2019 where Indian community has generously contributed to the victims. Many corporate are also sponsoring students, running schools locally. Now we have managed to formalise such platform between Embassy of India and Indian corporate. For a start Zimgold has sponsored 2 Mtech students to IIT, Palakad, 2 more will be joining in July 2020. This is not a one off affair, but they have committed to sponsoring 2 Mtech students to IIT in India on yearly basis. Other corporates have also joined this endeavour. Varun Beverages (Pepsi) has committed to sponsor 4 Mtech Students to IITs and IIMs and another 4 High School students in India. Rio Zim does not wish to leave behind and has committed to sponsor 4 students to IIT and IIM in India. In all, as of date, they have commitment to sponsoring 16 students (12 Mtech and 4 schools). I would like to encourage more Indian business houses to join this noble endeavour.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
Allow me to express my deep appreciation of the Government of India to the government of the Republic of Zimbabwe for its unstinting support for our membership in various International organisations.
Let me also reiterate our appreciation to the Government and the people of the Republic of Zimbabwe for accepting and accommodating Indian community and making them proud sons and daughters of the soil. The Zimbabwean society and political system have demonstrated magnanimity and confidence in opening up opportunities to Indian community here in Zimbabwe. Because of this enabling and home environment, merits of many have been given opportunity to rise and contribute to the nation (Judges, Professors, Doctors, Lawyer, Ambassadors etc. I recall that in 2019, Hon’ble Raj Modi, Dy Minister of Industry and Commerce have been to India several times, particularly to his Province of Origin Gujarat where he was received more as an Indian Minister than Zimbabwean Minister. The credit goes all to the Government and the people of Zimbabwe for heavily investing in such bridge building project of people to people relations.
I will be failing in my duty if I do not thank Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their unwavering support to all the efforts made by this Mission. I would like to also thank, among others, officials of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Power and Energy, Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation, Ministry of ICT, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for your support. I would like to once again thank City Council officials for your support in developing our property at 25 Piers road. We will be having our new Embassy soon.
I would like to thank my colleagues in the embassy for their support and being solidly behind me. Let me also take this opportunity to thank and say good bye to Mr. Madan Lal who is going back to India on 1st Feb on retirement. I feel happy for him because he just got promotion one month before his retirement. As you enter new phase of life, i wish you a happy and active retired life. Special thanks to Indian community and Indian corporate (particularly, Zimgold, Varun Beverages & Illi Coffee) in Zimbabwe for your consistent support (Festival of India) without which the little work I have done in the last three and half years would not have been possible. I would also like to thank Presidents and Secretaries of Business Chambers of Commerce and Industries for your cooperation in bringing and hosting Indian businesses in Zimbabwe. I am saying this because this is my last time to host national Day reception. Personally, it has been a very rich experience for me. I have measured out my stay in Zimbabwe not with coffee spoon but trying to build bridges between India and Zimbabwe and making friends that will go much beyond our time in Zimbabwe. Last, but not the least, as always, a very special thanks to my beautiful wife for her unconditional support which I, sometimes, tend to take for granted.
May I propose a toast to the good health of the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe H.E E.D Mnagagwa, to the peace, prosperity of the Republic of Zimbabwe and its people and to the eternal friendship of India and Zimbabwe.
Thank you- Tadenda
mea.gov.in,hoc.harare