AN ESSAY/SPEECH ON NATIONAL INTREGATION.
NATIONAL
INTREGATION
People living in a country are
called nation. Their living together
without differences is national integration.
This idea is not new to India. In spite of her amazing diversity she has
maintained unity and her people remain one
Ours
is a big country with nearly 102 crores of people. This is a land of diversity.
India attracts people from many countries.
People of different races, civilizations and faiths came here and became
a part of the nation. They have been living in harmony. This is a
characteristic feature of our culture. The seeds of national integration lie in
this rule.
During the British rule there was a threat to
this idea of integration. Then rulers adopted a divide and rule policy. Muslims
and Hindus began to disturb each other. Even at the time of independence there
were about 560 independent states. The credit for integrating these states with
the Indian union goes to Sardar Patel. Without his efforts India would have
been fragmented. He was the architect India's political unity.
In spite of political unity there are divisive
forces at work. These are the forces that work in the name of caste, creed and
religion. From time to time they create lawlessness and large-scale violence. Some
foreign elements add fuel to this fire. They want to weaken India. The nation
should defeat all their efforts.
Caste and religion are the two
major factors that pose a threat to integration. Great leaders like Mahatma
Gandhi preached peaceful co-existence and tolerance. But the present-day Indian
society shows that their dreams have not been fully realized. We should all
strive to eradicate the ugly practices like un-touchability and religious
intolerance. Only then we can make India really great. All sections of the society
should be made to realise that all Indians are one.
Since independence many efforts
have been made to impress the idea of National Integration upon the minds of
the people. Young students are taught the need for communal harmony. Ideas of
disintegration should be cursed. Separatist tendencies should be firmly
checked. The idea of social equality should be propagated. Only when we rise
above these narrow-minded ideas, we can make the nation great. National Integration
is the need of the hour. We should preserve it at all cost.