National Youth Convention for celebration of 150th anniversary of 1857 freedom struggle concludes in Delh

National Youth Convention for celebration of 150th anniversary of 1857 freedom struggle concludes in Delh 8th May, 2006 Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has called upon the youth of the country to stand committed to the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of India and ensured that the various communities that make up the mosaic of India live together in peace and harmony. He was addressing the valedictory session of National Youth Convention for celebration of 150th Anniversary of the First War of Independence, 1857 here today. Referring to the Hindu-Muslim unity which was visible among soldiers and people as well as among leaders of the 1857 uprising, Dr. Singh said the frustrated elements that disturb the ethos of communal harmony must not to be given any scope for having their aims achieved. He said the founding fathers of our Republic had the vision to recognize that India can prosper only as a secular society and communal harmony is ‘sine qua non’ for our survival as civilized society. Dr. Singh suggested that since Meerut is the holy ground marking the first outbreak of the uprising of 1857, it would be appropriate if our youth take out Yatras from every village and town to converge at Meerut and then march further from Meerut to Lal Quila in Delhi, to participate in the main celebration on May10 next year, which is the day of 1857 uprising. Human Resource Development Minister, Shri Arjun Singh in his speech said while celebrating the occasion, one must reflect the spirit behind the movement and rekindle the hopes of millions once again. Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports and Panchayat Raj, Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar said the convention was organized so that youth of this country should decide themselves how they want to celebrate the occasion. He said, more than 8000 youths who came from 500 districts of the country will decide the agenda of the celebration at the National level to be held next year. Minister for Tourism and Culture, Smt. Ambika Soni said the UPA Government is committed to provide employment, health, education to every citizen of the country so that they can be really empowered. She said during the past two years the Nation has marched ahead without any major communal violence and this peace has given a chance to youth of this country to take part in the Nation building without any fear of discrimination on the basis of caste, religion and creed. The 3-day Convention “Sanjhi Virasat – Sanjhi Shahadat” was organized by the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports with an aim to create awareness among the youth about the importance of the 1857 freedom struggle and to involve them in the formulation of action plans for the activities to be conducted in next one year at different level.