Best Wishes: The Gyalpoi Zimpon offers a Khadar to the Indian ambassador.

Under a clear blue sky, the Indian community in Thimphu gathered at the Indian embassy ground yesterday morning to celebrate India’s 64th Independence Day that was also attended by senior officials of the Bhutanese government.

At 9:15 am Ambassador Pavan K Varma unfurled the Indian tricolour that sent a shower of petals to the ground and the Indian national anthem began to play.

Reading out President Pratibha Devisingh Patil’s Independence Day address Pavan K Varma said that India is at a historic phase when the world is shifting course. “It is impacting our economy, polity, trade, commerce, education and pace of life. In this era of transformation India definitely cannot lag behind,” said the president.

The president said that foremost among their tasks is to ensure the welfare of all. “Our task will be complete only when no one sleeps on a hungry stomach, when no one sleeps on the footpath and when every child is in school. It is a huge task to be achieved for a billion plus population, but we should not be overwhelmed,” she said.

To be in the forefront of cutting edge technologies, research and development in all fields must be encouraged and pursued in the country, said the president, adding that there was need to speed up the construction of physical infrastructure that impedes overall economic growth and is, in many ways, out of sync with India’s image of an emerging global player.

“However, achievement of goals and targets is dependent on an effective governance structure,” said the president. “Zero tolerance towards corruption and working with the highest standards of public service will definitely result in efficient governance systems. We must be law abiding and also work for moral upliftment. I mention this because, with an increasing emphasis on materialism, there is growing insensitivity towards each other.”

The Gyalpoi Zimpon, Penjore, offered Tashi Khadar to the Indian ambassador.

Speaking to the Bhutanese media, the Indian ambassador said it was a day that made him emotional, apart from being happy. “It makes me emotional because I recall the tremendous human sacrifice for freedom. People forget, children don’t read. History books have become something you study for the exam,” the ambassador said. “But it was a movement, thousands upon thousands of people struggled for. We have to not only celebrate what we have achieved, but think about what more reverence to be done, the challenges, it’s important.”

In the evening the sitar maestro Shujaat Husain Khan performed a musical performance at the India House auditorium. Source: Kuenselonline