National Integration Day is celebrated every year on November 19. The day marks the birth anniversary of Iron Lady and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The main motto behind celebrating the day is to encourage people about unity, peace, love and brotherhood among people.
Indira Gandhi, daughter of India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, was born on November 19, 1917. She was the country’s first and only female Prime Minister, taking the charge after the demise of then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. During her tenure as Prime Minister, India achieved new heights at international levels and strengthened the democratic structure of the country.
National Integration Day is also known as ‘Quami Ekta Divas’ in our country. To develop a better understanding and strengthen the unity of people in society National Integration Day is celebrated every year.
To remember Indira Gandhi on her birth anniversary, here are some of her inspirational and powerful quotes:
1. A nation’s strength ultimately consists in what it can do on its own, and not in what it can borrow from others.
2. Even if I died in the service of the nation, I would be proud of it. Every drop of my blood… will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic.
3. Winning or losing of the election is less important than strengthening the country.
4. The lives of martyrs cannot be valued in terms of money. Their sacrifice is beyond recompense. But a grateful nation remembers its debt and its obligation to them to mitigate the sufferings of their wives and children.
5. Education is a liberating force, and in our age, it is also a democratising force, cutting across the barriers of caste and class, smoothing out inequalities imposed by birth and other circumstances.
6. Happiness is a state of mind, you know. I don’t think you are permanently happy. One is happy about certain things and not so happy about others.
7. Have a bias toward action – let’s see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.
8. Opportunities are not offered. They must be wrested and worked for. And this calls for perseverance… and courage.
The former Prime Minister was hailed as one of the powerful leaders in the world, was assassinated by her own bodyguards at her residence at Akbar Road on October 31, 1984.