The Ambassador celebrating India’s 72nd Independence Day with schoolchildren at the Indian Cultural Center, Al Mamoura, yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula.
DOHA: Thousands of Indian expatriates celebrated India’s 72nd Independence Day with full fervour at the Indian Cultural Center (ICC), Al Mamoura, yesterday.
P Kumaran, Ambassador of India, hoisted the national flag that marked the beginning of the celebration. The Ambassador addressed the gathering in the packed Ashoka Hall of ICC and read the speech of the President of India.
School students wearing traditional attires sang national anthem and patriotic songs. The event was attended by big numbers of Indian expatriate community members including community leaders, prominent businessmen, school students, men and women.
“I want to thank the leadership of Qatar, H H the Amir and H H the Father Amir, for their patronage the Indian community and the people of Qatar for their warm partnership with the people of India,” said the Ambassador in his speech.
He said: “it is a time for Indians to celebrate our freedom and to thank our freedom fighters for what they have given to us, and also to take stock of what we have done from 1947 until now and to identify the challenges that continue to confront us and do some thing about them.”
P Kumaran, Ambassador of India, hoisting the national flag.
The Ambassador praised Indian community for their excellent reputation in Qatar. “I want to congratulate the diverse and large Indian community here for their excellent reputation over the years. Every time I meet senior dignitaries and leaders in Qatar, it makes me extremely proud when they tell me that the Indian community is the best expatriate community in Qatar,” the Ambassador added.
He requested to Indian community to continue to work to consolidate their reputation and build it further. The Ambassador read the speech of the President Of India, Ram Nath Kovind, given on the eve of India’s 72nd Independence Day.
Reading the President’s speech, he said: “For every Indian, whether living at home or anywhere else in the world, August 15 is sacred. It is marked on our calendars as a celebration of our sovereignty. We unfurl our national flag with great joy and enthusiasm in workplaces, municipalities, panchayats, colleges, schools, homes and neighbourhoods.”
“Our Tricolor is a symbol of our national pride. It is a constant reminder of our striving and our self-belief. It is a day to look back with satisfaction and gratitude for what we have been able to achieve due to the efforts of successive generations of our elders. And it is a day to renew our resolve to fill the gaps that still remain in our nation building project – gaps that our talented young people will no doubt fill,” he said.
He said that freedom came to our country on the Midnight of August 14-15, 1947. It was the result of years and decades and centuries of sacrifice and valour on the part of our ancestors and our revered freedom fighters.
These were men and women of rare courage and foresight. They came from all regions of the country, all sections of society, all communities and all social and economic groups.
