Andhra Pradesh Governor Sri Biswabhusan Harichandan participated as Chief Guest and delivered the 70th Amrit Mahotsav Lecture on “Freedom Struggle and progressive India @75” in the series of lectures organized by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) at Baba Saheb Ambedkar Convention Centre in IGNOU Maidan Garhi in New Delhi, on Friday.
Speaking on the occasion Governor Sri Harichandan appreciated the initiative of the Indira Gandhi National Open University, for taking a pledge to organize 75 lectures, one lecture every week, in a series of lectures beginning from 12th March 2021. Earlier, eminent and enlightened personalities in the fields of History, Culture, Literature, Theatre, Cinema, Dance, Science, Medicine, Technology, Environment etc. have delivered their lectures. In his lecture, Governor Sri Harichandan dwelled on the early history of some of the popular uprisings and revolts against the British in India. Referring to the statement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it was not an era of wars in the context of the war between Russia and Ukraine and asking Russia to put an end to the war, Governor Sri Harichandan said India is now playing a key role in the world politics under the great leadership of our Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi and many problems faced by the world can be solved through peaceful means in an era of democracy and India being the largest democracy in the world can play a leadership role in this regard.
Governor Sri Harichandan speaking on the freedom movement mentioned the non-violence weapon propagated by Mahatma Gandhi to free the country from the British bondage of over 150 years and how the people that time were surprised by Gandhiji’s thoughts. The people of that time did not realise the confidence of Mahatma Gandhi when he gave the call to the Britishers to quit India in 1942 initially but later Mahatma Gandhi’s call inspired lakhs of people came to the streets joined hands with Mahatma Gandhi and in one voice they asked the Britishers to quit India that led to a turmoil in the entire country as lots of freedom fighters came to the streets without caring for the British bullets.
He said the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to celebrate 75 years of independence was the brain child of the Prime Minister to instill the spirit of nationalism and patriotism amongst the people of India and in that regard many freedom fighters have been honoured and have been given due recognition with celebration of several landmark events of the freedom movement like the centenary celebration of Sabarmati Ashram, Champaran agitation, and bi-centenary celebration of Paik Bidroh in Orissa, that have been observed all over the country. In Andhra Pradesh, the Prime Minister unveiled the 30-feet statue in honour of Alluri Sitarama Raju, a great freedom fighter who fought against the Britishers with the help of tribals, highlighted the great sacrifices he had made. Governor Sri Harichandan in his lecture outlined the incidents that led to the bloody war of Paik Bidroh led by Buxi Jagabhandhu as the Commander-in-Chief of Raja of Khurda and in 1803 and how the uprising went on from 1817 till 1825. He said the bi-centenary celebration of Paika Bidroh has been observed at the Central-level and at the State-level and a great honour has been bestowed to this historic movement by the Prime Minister.
The Governor mentioned about the contribution of Pingali Venkaiah of Andhra Pradesh who gave the initial design of the tricolour to Mahatma Gandhi at the National Executive meeting of the Congress in Vijayawada in 1921 that had later taken the shape of the national flag. The Governor also made a mention of the atomic tests conducted during the time Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998 and how the big powers of the world had pounced upon Vajpayee and imposed sanctions on the country. He said it was a proud moment when then Prime Minister Vajpayee proudly announced that India was an atomic power he did not care for threats of the so called great powers of the world but he assured the world that India will not attack any other country and that India’s march towards progress started from that time. He also referred to the contribution of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose with the formation of Azad Hind Fauz and the support he gathered from countries like Japan, Germany, Italy.
He said it was a proud moment for the people of the country that his statue was installed replacing the statue of George V and Rajpath has been converted as Karthavyapath. Speaking about Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Governor said but for the action taken by him using the methods of Sama, Dana, Danda, Beda the 552 princely states existing then would not have merged into India as they wanted to remain independent after the British left the country. The Governor said that the Atma Nirbhar Bharat programme launched by Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi, made India self-reliant and self-sustained and enabled the country to face the threat of COVID-19 pandemic boldly and that India could manufacture its own vaccine and went ahead by vaccinating its entire population and helping other countries through vaccine maitri programme. Governor Sri Harichandan said the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrating 75 years of India’s independence has rekindled the spirit of patriotism among the people of the country and feel proud of the country as a progressive and strong nation both economically and militarily, as India has now taken a key position in the world arena.
Prof. Nageshwar Rao, Vice Chancellor, Prof. Satyakam, Pro Vice Chancellor, Prof. Uma Kanjilal, Pro Vice Chancellor, Prof. Manroop Singh Meena, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Sri R.P. Sisodia, Special Chief Secretary to Governor, have also participated in the programme.
