Jawaharlal Nehru: Speeches on the Granting of Indian Independence

( 1947 ) Commentary by Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay, University of Oslo, Norway

“Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.” - “Tryst with Destiny”
“And so we have to labour and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart.” - “Tryst with Destiny”
“It is a fateful moment for us in India, for all Asia and for the world. A new star rises, the star of freedom in the East, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materializes. May the star never set and that hope never be betrayed!” - “The Appointed Day”
“All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action.” - “The Appointed Day”

The poet Rabindranath Tagore (Library of Congress)

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