National security adviser Ajit Doval on Sunday called for “avenging” history and creating a strong India while stressing that the country's freedom came at a huge cost, with generations of Indians suffering humiliation, subjugation, destruction and loss.
Speaking as the guest of honour at the opening ceremony of the Viksit Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue, Doval highlighted the sacrifices of freedom fighters such as Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh during the freedom struggle.
The event was organised by the sports ministry and attended by 3,000 young delegates from across the country.
Doval urged the youth to draw strength from history to rebuild the nation and work towards creating a strong and great India based on its own values, rights and beliefs.
“Our ancestors made great sacrifices. They endured great humiliation and experienced periods of profound helplessness. Many people faced the gallows... Our villages were burnt. Our civilisation was destroyed. Our temples were looted, and we watched helplessly as mute spectators. This history presents us with a challenge that every young person in India today should have the fire within them,” he said.
“We have to avenge our history and take this country back to where we can build a great India based on our rights, our ideas, and our beliefs,” he added.
He said India had a very developed civilisation, “but we failed to understand the threats to our security and to ourselves". "History taught us a lesson when we remained indifferent to them. Did we learn that lesson? Will we remember that lesson? If future generations forget that lesson, it will be the greatest tragedy for this country.”
Doval reasoned that wars were fought to break a country’s morale "so that it will surrender to our wishes and accept our terms". “If you are so powerful that no one can oppose you, then you will always remain independent. But if you have everything but without that morale, all your weapons and resources will be useless, and for that, you need leadership.”