Author: Rudrangshu Mukherjee
Translator(s)/ Edito: Rudrangshu Mukherjee
Publisher: Random House India
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 452
ISBN/UPC (if available): 81-8400-016-2
Description
‘Freedom is my birthright. So long as it is awake within me, I am not old. No weapon can dry this spirit, no fire can burn it, no water can wet it, and no wind can dry it.’
– Bal Gangadhar Tilak
‘I shall be totally ruined, and the only thing I could expect from the people would be nothing but hatred if I were to kill Gandhiji.’
– Nathuram Godse
‘The president has proclaimed the emergency. There is nothing to panic about.’
– Indira Gandhi
The speeches that changed the political tide; which are unforgettable for their eloquence; those which marked a seminal moment in India’s history: here is Subhas Chandra Bose damning Gandhi, Jinnah’s opening speech for the Pakistani parliament, Nehru advocating divorce, a young Vajpayee espousing the cause of Tibet.
And here also is the speech that heralded the Emergency, Manmohan Singh’s plea for economic reform, and Amartya Sen discussing Satyajit Ray. Together they tell the story of modern India – from her move to independence to the battles thereafter. Inspiring and instructive, The Great Speeches of Modern India will give you a front row view of India’s history as it happened from the men and women who made it.
Contents
Introduction
Part One: 1880s-1947
The opening of the Indian national Congress (1885)
ROMESH CHANDRA BONERJEE
One country, two nations (1888)
SIR SYED AHMED KHAN
On the inauguration of the Muslim League (1906)
MUSHTAQ HUSSAIN
On conserving ancient monuments (1900)
LORD CURZON
Game preservation in India (1901)
LORD CURZON
Sisters and brothers of America (1893)
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
How and why I adopted the Hindu religion (1902)
SISTER NIVEDITA
At Benaras Hindu University (1916)
MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI
Freedom is my birthright (1917)
BAL GANGADHAR TILAK
The trial speech (1922)
MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI
A dangerous cult of absolute nonviolence (1940)
V.D. SAVARKAR
Purna swaraj (1929)
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
At the second Round Table Conference (1931)
MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI
The Muslims of India (1930)
MUHAMMAD IQBAL
The death of God (1933)
M. SINGARAVELU
Crisis of civilization (1941)
RABINDRANATH TAGORE
Give me blood and I promise you freedom! (1944)
SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE
The great Calcutta killings (1946)
SHYAMAPROSAD MOOKERJEA
Opening address to the Constituent Assembly
Of Pakistan (1947)
MUHAMMAD ALI JINNAH
The dawn of freedom (1947)
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
Part Two: 1948-2007
The light has gone out (1948)
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
My father, don’t rest (1948)
SAROJINI NAIDU
Why I killed Gandhi (1949)
NATHURAM GODSE
Closing speech of the first
Constituent assembly of India (1949)
B.R. AMBEDKAR
Temples of the new age (1954)
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
On the Five-Year Plans (1955)
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
The Hindu Code Bill (1955)
J.B. KRIPALANI
The Kashmir issue (1952)
SHYAMAPROSAD MOOKERJEA
Tibet (1959)
ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE
A myth (1968)
J.R.D. TATA
The presidential system (1968)
J.R.D. TATA
Importance of NGOs (1969)
JAYAPRAKASH NARAYAN
Tragedy in Bangladesh (1971)
INDIRA GANDHI
Proclamation of emergency (1975)
INDIRA GANDHI
The education of a film-maker (1982)
SATYAJIT RAY
Lowering the voting age to eighteen (1988)
RAJIV GANDHI
Panchayati Raj (1989)
RAJIV GANDHI
Present economic situation (1991)
MANMOHAN SINGH
The future of Indo-US relations (1994)
NARASIMHA RAO
Why Ayodhya is a setback (1992)
L.K. ADVANI
The fatwa (1993)
SALMAN RUSHDIE
On Foundation’s Day (1992)
VIKRAM SETH
Our culture, their culture (1995)
AMARTYA SEN
Renunciation (2004)
SONIA GANDHI
On Jinnah (2005)
L.K. ADVANI
In Lahore (1999)
ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE
On the 2550th anniversary of Buddha’s
Mahaparinivrvana (2007)
GOPALKRISHNA GANDHI
Rekindling a spark of enthusiasm (1982)
J.R.D. TATA
Sources
Acknowledgements