Skip to content Skip to navigation

Independence Day in Kuwait

By editor |

Inquisitiveness, curiosity n proudness filled me as I got ready to attend the 62nd Independence Day at Indian Embassy,Kuwait. As we drove to the Embassy at 6.30am to reach and be part of the flag hoisting at 7.10am ,my mind was filled with different thoughts…thoughts of the many Indenpence Day we celebrated in our motherland Assam under the shadow of Assam Bandh . My one year daughter too wake up early that day as if she understood the importance of this special day. As we approach’d the embassy my husband park’d our car atleast 1km from the embassy as there was no space as hundreds of cars were already parked. As we came near the embassy we were pleasantly surprised to see hundreds of Indians from different walks of life and some like me with infants. People had Indian Flags in their hands. I felt so happy and proud when my infant daughter too took a flag and was waving. Jai Hind, Jai Bharat, Mera Bharat Mahan echoed in the air. The “Borah Drummers”, the members are Guajarati Muslims exhibited their talent and skills. Small school children and Doctors community sang patriotic songs. The Indian Ambassador Ajai Malhotra hosted the national tri-colour flag as we all stood there with proudness. He read out the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh’s message ,the speech which he gave to millions of Indians from the Red Fort .He also read out the various facilities and schemes that the embassy has taken for thousands of Indian workers. After the cultural programme was over ,the Ambassador met the common people and listen to their grievances if any. Deep feeling of proudness enveloped thousands who gathered there to be part of such a celebration. Mughal Mahal, a famous Indian restaurant gave free breakfast (paratha,chola,sweets) to thousands of people who gathered . Free supplements on Independence Day were distributed by The Times(Kuwait’s premier weekly newspaper) and Arab Times(Kuwait’s national daily).


In a foreign country that too in a Middle East Muslim country like Kuwait we celebrated it so much fun, proudness and most importantly without fear, then why not in our motherland Assam??Can’t we be like rest of India and foreign countries in observing our Independence Day???When will such a day come???These thoughts filled my mind as we drove back home.


I remembered Jawaharlal Nehru’s Independence Day speech…. "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we will 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. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again."


Its time for us, all assamese people to defy the Bandh and celebrate it with love, fun and frolic.


by Parimita Barooah Bora, Kuwait

Comments

SKumar's picture

Submitted by SKumar on Mon, 07/09/2009 - 06:37
The Ambassador infact read out the President of India's message and not the Prime Minister's. Anyhow thanks to Parimita for sharing her thoughts. We too feel proud like her to be part of the celebrations of our great nation.
Chintu Nath's picture

Submitted by Chintu Nath on Mon, 07/09/2009 - 14:59
Pom-ba, it was a great coverage for us to know about how NRIs feel about their country and Independence. We Indians are actually, patriotic by birth; it is in our subconscious to feel great and own about our country. No matter where we live in heart we are always INDIANS, and the whole world today recognizes that.We must always endeavor to do better than before wherever we are, and mere that doing only will take our nation even higher and greater. Vande Mataram.
PriyalakshmiB's picture

Submitted by PriyalakshmiB on Thu, 10/09/2009 - 09:28
Woh!such a gathering.

Pages

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

Steps to ensure safety for Assamese

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has written to his counterparts in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharasthra to ensure safety of the Assamese people living in these states. According to information, Gogoi has received assurance that the people from the states would be provided adequate security in the time of ethnic clash in BTAD areas and Dhubri. Gogoi has given instruction to the district authorities to maintain calm even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Union Home Minister Sushil Shinde have given separate assurances that security will be provided to affected people.

Maximum security alert for I-Day

Security forces have been put on alert to ensure peace and normalcy during the Independence Day celebrations across the state on Wednesday. Additional forces are remaining stand by at sensitive locations to foil any attempt by militant outfits to create distrubances. The government has some intelligence inputs about ULFA’s possible attempt to disrupt the celebrations in Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji districts. A 'red alert' has already been sounded across the state, which witnessed a few IED blasts targeted at security personnel during the past couple of weeks, particularly in Goalpara district. The anti-talk faction of ULFA has called a customary state-...

10,000 refugees back to home

Altogether 10,636 refugees having left the camps set up to accommodate the violence-hit people in BTAD areas and Dhubri. According to government sources, 2,92,852 inmates are still sheltering in 228 relief camps. Kokrajhar district alone has 10,300 inmates in the camps. Around 336 people went back in Chirang. But nobody in Dhubri district has left the camps. Among the total inmates in the relief camp, 61,439 belong to the Bodo community while 2,31,413 are from the minority community. In Dhubri, 1,55,314 people are living in the relief camps, 77,459 in Kokrajhar, 47,477 in Chirang and 12,602 in Bongaigaon, the release said. Dhubri has the highest number of 133 relief camps followed by...

Presidential concern over BTAD violence

President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday expressed grave concerns over the escalating tensions between two ethnic groups in BTAD areas and Dhubri. In his presidential address to the nation on the eve of the Independence Day, Mukherjee said, "old fires that threaten the stability of the nation have not been fully doused the ash continues to smoulder. According to Mukherjee, minorities need solace, understanding and protection from aggression. Violence is not an option violence is an invitation to greater violence. He further said that peace was required for a new economic surge in the region that can quell the competitive causes of violence.

Time to heal the wounds: Mukherjee

President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said that time has come to revisit the Assam Accord and adapt it to the present conditions. In his address to the nation on the eve of the 66th Independence Day on Tuesday, Mukherjee said that concrete attempts are on to heal the wounds which includes the Assam accord signed by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Notably, the Assam Accord was signed on August 15, 1985 by the Centre, state with student leaders of the Assam.

Police medals for SSB personnel

Sashastra Seema Bal personnel have been awarded with various police service medals on the eve of Independence Day. Constable Subhash Kumar was posthumously awarded with the Police Medal for gallantry for undertaking operations against insurgents in Kokrajhar district. The other awardees of the President's Police Medal include DIGs Chanchal Shekhar (meritorious service) and Subhash Kumar (distinguished service). The Centre deploys SSB personnel along Indo-Nepal and Bhutan borders.

Protect NE people: Centre to states

The Centre has asked all states to provide security to the north east people living across the country. In a communication, the Home Ministry said there have been reports of attack on students and other people from Northeast in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh and immediate steps must be taken to stop such kind of violence. These states include Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Delhi. The communiqué said that a large number of Northeast people have been living in these states which is why, additional forces have been deployed.

Politicians behind Mumbai violence!

Police officials probing the recent Mumbai violence on BTAD riot have raised doubts on the role of a section of politicians from Assam. They sure of a particular political party’s role with vested interests and there was a strong possibility of some people from outside Mumbai being behind it. The agencies have found that those who indulged in violence were brought to the spot in hired buses and were armed with lathis, sickles and other instruments. Two persons were killed and at least 55 injured when a protest in Mumbai’s Azad Maidan against BTAD riots and attacks on Muslims in Myanmar turned violent on Saturday with demonstrators torching vehicles and pelting stones.

CM stresses rural Assam development

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday said that his government will give priority to the development of rural areas saying that only the rural Assam would help the state progress on all fronts. Addressing a function in Guwahati, he said that the government has been village-centric since day one as without the development of rural areas no real development can take place. Minister for Panchayat and Rural Development Rakibul Hussain said a total 60 vehicles had been distributed today in the first phase to the BDOs to improve their access to the remote areas.

CM must take responsibility: AIUDF

AIUDF has asked Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to bear responsibility for the incident. Party president Badruddin Ajmal said that the law and order machinery in the state has failed and Gogoi as the chief minister has to bear the responsibility for this. The condition of the minorities affected in the violence was pathetic and they would not be able to return to their respective homes from the camps by August 15 as most are still traumatised.