We need to work unitedly: Sonia Gandhi

30 july 2007
Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi reached Rae Bareli on Monday morning. She is on a three-day visit to her Parliamentary constituency. Smt Gandhi will tour her constituency for three days before moving back to Delhi on the 1 st of August.
On the first day of her visit, she started her day with paying tributes to freedom fighters at the Shankarpur Inter College in Rae Bareli. She paid tributes under the aegis of freedom fighter Rana Beni Madhav Baksh Singh Memorial.
Speaking on the occasion, she said, "I bow to the freedom fighters and the land of Rana Beni Madhav. I also bow to all the freedom fighters who fought for the freedom of the country. They have to face so many adversities, yet they fought the war of Independence. People from this area like Rao Ram Baksh Singh Thakur, Balwant Singh, Thakur Shivrasan Singh, Bira Pasi and Lal Chandra fought for the war of independence in 1857. We should not forget that the nation, the Congress party and the UPA Government are celebrating the 150 th anniversary of the first war of Independence of 1857. The war of Independence of 1857 has a great importance, although the historians having close ties with the Britishers wrote it as a simple revolt of the sepoys, but it was greater than that. It was the first war of nations independence and it has impact all over the country. The people who participated in the war of 1857, have coined slogans which were more than what words mean. When these people went from one place to another they enthused others with a sense of responsibility and asked them to participate in the war of independence. It was emphasized by them that this war not only a simple war, it was a war for our existence. The war was represented by all sections of the society. This was a great message for the Indian society, all were one. The message of this war was carried ahead by Mahatma Gandhi and the congress party, which spearheaded the war of Independence, and this became so strong that we got independent. And today we stand as the largest democracy of this world. And it is a great thing that Uttar Pradesh was the place from where it all started, and our hero Mangal Pandey started it. Whichever struggle is done for a society or a nation, it is ultimately a dream, it has some goal. The dreams which the freedom fighters saw was fulfilled when we got independent on August 15 th 1947. You know that this year is being celebrated in the name of the Satyagraha Movement. The UN General Assembly has also endorsed the views of Mahatm a Gandhi and this has now become evident by it declaring October 2 as World Non-Violence Day. This also proves that the stature of Mahatma Gandhi is not only for India, but the world accepts him as a great leader. We are also celebrating the 60 th year of our Independence this year, in these conditions we need to fulfill the dreams of our freedom fighters and those who worked for us. Our leaders since independence have worked a lot to do that, but still a lot needs to be done in the field of developing our society, our economy and our educational system. We have discussed a lot on these and are working towards achieving it. This task will be fulfilled when we all are together and I believe that the whole of India will work for it unitedly".
After paying her tributes, she attended a meeting of the Central Monitoring Committee at the Bachat Bhavan in Rae Bareli.
She was later felicitated at the Firoze Gandhi Degree College by some of the eminent citizens.
Soon after the felicitation, she said, "Rae Bareli is like my home. I respect your emotions, I thank you all. I once again want to say that I am doing something in the field of politics because of Indiarji and Rajivji. Whatever I am doing I have learnt from them. They laid their lives for the country, and worked throughout their life for the welfare of the people of the nation. Rajivji always dreamt of a developed India and that can't be achieved without the support of the women folk of our country. The development of any country depends on it, after all its half the population. Our women have worked a lot when the country was fighting for independence. Be it the space or any other place, females are their. With Pratibha Patil becoming the President of the country, the whole country is overjoyed. I think that it's very important for the women to come ahead in the society for the even development of the nation".
Smt. Gandhi also distributed bi-cycles to some handicapped people under the aegis of the social Welfare Department. She also distributed cheques to the ladies who needed it the most.

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