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Saturday, June 21, 2025
TopicGreat Speeches

Topic: Great Speeches

Not missiles or sovereignty, but social unity is the true force behind foreign policy: PN Haksar

In 1974, PN Haksar delivered the Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture on the evolution of India's foreign policy. Here's an excerpt from his speech.

Tamil people do not bow in shame, nor lower their head in defeat: M Karunanidhi on Tamil pride

On 15 September 1986, the DMK stalwart delivered a stirring address in Chennai, weaving poetry with politics, defending Tamil cultural heritage while reflecting on electoral defeats with unwavering pride.

No place for armed liberation struggle in a democracy: P Chidambaram on Left-wing extremism

On 14 September 2009, then-home minister P Chidambaram spoke to senior police chiefs in New Delhi, outlining internal security threats such as Naxalism and insurgencies.

If Pakistan doesn’t halt aggression, India may be compelled to enter Pakistan: VK Menon at UN

On 23-24 January 1957, VK Krishna Menon delivered a historic speech at UN Security Council defending India’s position on Kashmir.

Pakistan knows cost of hostility. Our govt won’t tolerate incursion: Vajpayee during Kargil War

In May 1999, Pakistani troops crossed the Line of Control in Kargil, occupying strategic heights. On 7 June 1999, then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressed the nation, condemning Pakistan’s invasion and rallying India to defend its borders.

‘Count OBCs or face our anger’: Gopinath Munde’s caste census demand in 2010 Lok Sabha

On 6 May 2010, BJP leader Gopinath Munde warned that not counting OBCs in the caste census would mean denying social justice to more than half the country for another decade.

India produced scholars, scientists. Pakistan, what did you produce? Terrorists: Sushma Swaraj

On 23 September 2017, then-Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj delivered a powerful rebuke to Pakistan during her address at the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Away with Brahmin school-masters, we need schools for Shudras: Jyotirao Phule

In his powerful deposition before the Hunter Commission in 1881, Jyotirao Phule urged the British government to open its eyes to a 'pernicious system of high-class education.'

Delimitation is secondary. First, avoid tyranny of majority & don’t waste votes: K Rama Rao

On 22 December 1952, during a debate on the Delimitation Commission Bill in Rajya Sabha, legislator and freedom fighter K Rama Rao criticised India's electoral representation structure and called for deeper reforms.

Purely secular education won’t work for India. It has an over-religiosity problem: Maulana Azad

On 13 January 1948, in his presidential speech at the 14th session of the Central Advisory Board of Education, Maulana Azad argued that India could not follow the West in keeping religion out of education.

On Camera

Free education is mere jugglery of words. A hangover of anti-rational pre-Partition days

‘There is no such thing as free education. Money paid to teachers comes ultimately from people, as taxes if not as tuition fees,' wrote Professor Om Prakash Kahol on 1 January 1959.

More salaried than self-employed Indians earning less than Rs 25k a month face borrower stress—study

Think360.ai, a firm that helps banks & financial institutions make credit decisions, based its analysis on 20k borrowers. 

Trust with China low post Op Sindoor, says Defence Secy; terms Trump-Munir meeting ‘very strange’

From ‘escalation dominance’ and BrahMos to Chinese collusion, Singh outlines India’s new military posture; adds India will no longer limit itself to striking foot soldiers or remote terror camps.

India is re-hyphenating itself with Pakistan all over again. It needs a new 3D strategy

China and Pakistan are in a tight strategic alliance. India must deal with them one at a time but be prepared in case they decide to collude.